choke up

phrasal verb

choked up; choking up; chokes up

: to have trouble talking because of crying or strong emotion

He chokes up whenever he tries to talk about the accident.

baseball : to move one's hands to a higher position on a baseball bat

—often + on

He choked up on the bat and took a short swing.

Examples of choke up in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Beautiful brooches and stunning strands of pearls complimented Miu Miu’s ladies who lunch, but we’re all choked up over the gorgeous array of collar necklaces that dominated the runway collections. —

Adam Mansuroglu, WWD, 26 Sep. 2024 The gymnast noticeably choked up when she was asked about the topic. —

Jackson Thompson, Fox News, 19 Sep. 2024 Near the end, Springsteen nearly got choked up talking about the significance of the massive event, which would have been unimaginable a couple of decades back when Asbury Park was in very rough shape. —

Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 16 Sep. 2024 When University of New Mexico Lobos golfer Carson Herron won the Minnesota State Open this summer following a two-hole playoff, his father Tim ‘Lumpy’ Herron, a four-time PGA Tour winner who currently plays on the Champions circuit, was pretty choked up with pride. —

Mike Dojc, Forbes, 10 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for choke up

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'choke up.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.