choke up
verb1
To (temporarily) lose one's power of speech, because of strong emotion.
- Hearing that song always makes me choke up.
- The point overlooking the sea has beautiful scenery. It's over that away. Such a beautiful place gets me all choked up.1995, HAL Laboratory, EarthBound, Nintendo, Super Nintendo Entertainment System:
2
To cause (a person) temporarily to lose the power of speech, because of strong emotion.
- It chokes me up to think about how he died.
3
Imperative, Often To cease talking.
4
Figuratively, Sometimes To block up; to cause something to be blocked.
- The bodies choked up the entrance, barring the egress of those behind.1904, “Chicago's Awful Theater Horror”, in Memorial Publishing Co., page 42:
- "[…] All the leading entrances to the station, all the platforms within and all the passages without, were absolutely choked up with men and women and children, and hundreds of them could not get away until midnight."1960 April 23, M. D. Greville and G. O. Holt, “Railway Development in Preston—3”, in Railway Magazine, pages 277, 1862 report in the Preston Chronicle:
5
Ball games, Baseball, Games, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports To hold the bat higher (farther from the knob) than is normal.