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

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

After receiving the Living Legend Award from a reverential, cigarette-smoking Bono, Sinatra, who choked up immediately, launched into an acceptance speech dotted with humorous anecdotes and pauses. —

Melissa Ruggieri, USA TODAY, 26 Jan. 2025 But the Rams veteran tight end got choked up this weekend after his wife put together a montage of video clips showing the ninth-year pro enduring through his comeback from injuries. —

Austin Knoblauch, Los Angeles Times, 23 Dec. 2024 Underwood, for her part, got visibly choked up when talking to a contestant, presumably about his audition. —

Jonathan Granoff, Newsweek, 29 Jan. 2025 No speaker was more overcome than Best Actor winner Adrien Brody, choked up and shaking, unable to square the nature of the pride in his award with the destruction happening out West. —

Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 9 Jan. 2025 See all Example Sentences for choke up