THROTTLE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does throttle mean? 

• THROTTLE (noun)
  The noun THROTTLE has 2 senses:

1. a valve that regulates the supply of fuel to the engine

2. a pedal that controls the throttle valve

  Familiarity information: THROTTLE used as a noun is rare.

• THROTTLE (verb)
  The verb THROTTLE has 3 senses:

1. place limits on (extent or amount or access)

2. kill by squeezing the throat of so as to cut off the air

3. reduce the air supply

  Familiarity information: THROTTLE used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• THROTTLE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A valve that regulates the supply of fuel to the engine

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

accelerator; throttle; throttle valve

Hypernyms ("throttle" is a kind of...):

valve (control consisting of a mechanical device for controlling the flow of a fluid)

Holonyms ("throttle" is a part of...):

fuel system (equipment in a motor vehicle or aircraft that delivers fuel to the engine)

Derivation:

throttle (reduce the air supply)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A pedal that controls the throttle valve

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

accelerator; accelerator pedal; gas; gas pedal; gun; throttle

Context example:

he stepped on the gas

Hypernyms ("throttle" is a kind of...):

foot lever; foot pedal; pedal; treadle (a lever that is operated with the foot)

Holonyms ("throttle" is a part of...):

aeroplane; airplane; plane (an aircraft that has a fixed wing and is powered by propellers or jets)

auto; automobile; car; machine; motorcar (a motor vehicle with four wheels; usually propelled by an internal combustion engine)

Derivation:

throttle (reduce the air supply)

• THROTTLE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they throttle    ... he / she / it throttles   
Past simple: throttled   
Past participle: throttled   
-ing form: throttling   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Place limits on (extent or amount or access)

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

bound; confine; limit; restrict; throttle; trammel

Context example:

limit the time you can spend with your friends

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "throttle"):

reduce; tighten (narrow or limit)

tie (limit or restrict to)

gate (restrict (school boys') movement to the dormitory or campus as a means of punishment)

draw a line; draw the line (reasonably object (to) or set a limit (on))

mark off; mark out (set boundaries to and delimit)

cramp; halter; hamper; strangle (prevent the progress or free movement of)

constrain; stiffen; tighten; tighten up (severely restrict in scope or extent)

clamp down; crack down (repress or suppress (something regarded as undesirable))

delimit; delimitate; demarcate (set, mark, or draw the boundaries of something)

cumber; encumber; restrain (restrict (someone or something) so as to make free movement difficult)

scant; skimp (limit in quality or quantity)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody PP
Somebody ----s something PP

Sense 2

Meaning:

Kill by squeezing the throat of so as to cut off the air

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

strangle; strangulate; throttle

Context example:

A man in Boston has been strangling several dozen prostitutes

Hypernyms (to "throttle" is one way to...):

kill (cause to die; put to death, usually intentionally or knowingly)

"Throttle" entails doing...:

compact; compress; constrict; contract; press; squeeze (squeeze or press together)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "throttle"):

garotte; garrote; garrotte; scrag (strangle with an iron collar)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sentence example:

They want to throttle the prisoners

Derivation:

throttler (someone who kills by strangling)

throttling (the act of suffocating (someone) by constricting the windpipe)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Reduce the air supply

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

choke; throttle

Context example:

choke a carburetor

Hypernyms (to "throttle" is one way to...):

enrich (make better or improve in quality)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

throttle (a valve that regulates the supply of fuel to the engine)

throttle (a pedal that controls the throttle valve)

 Context examples 

The result was that he was slowly throttling White Fang.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

The next instant Martin's right hand had shot to a throttling clutch on his throat, and he was being shaken till his teeth rattled.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

They were Maud’s hands, striving vainly to tear loose the hand that was throttling me.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Dazed, suffering intolerable pain from throat and tongue, with the life half throttled out of him, Buck attempted to face his tormentors.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

She was a big woman, in stature almost equalling her husband, and corpulent besides: she showed virile force in the contest—more than once she almost throttled him, athletic as he was.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

At last he fell, toppling backward, exhausted; and the bull-dog promptly shifted his grip, getting in closer, mangling more and more of the fur- folded flesh, throttling White Fang more severely than ever.

(White Fang, by Jack London)