Word.ws English Dictionary

throttle

/ˈθɹɒtəl/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

British/ˈθɹɔtəl/

throttle noun: a valve that regulates the supply of fuel-air mixture to an internal combustion engine and thus controls its speed; a similar valve that controls the air supply to an engine.

Noun

throttle (plural throttles)

  1. A valve that regulates the supply of fuel-air mixture to an internal combustion engine and thus controls its speed; a similar valve that controls the air supply to an engine.
  2. The lever or pedal that controls this valve.
    • To my unpractised eye, the undulations in the track were quite imperceptible, but the engineer's hand on the throttle was never still.1961 July, J. Geoffrey Todd, “Impressions of railroading in the United States: Part Two”, in Trains Illustrated, page 425
  3. (archaic) The windpipe or trachea.
    • Then up got Peg, and round the house gan scuttle, / In search of goods her customer to nail, / Until the Sultaun strain'd his princely throttle, / And hollow'd,—"Ma'am, that is not what I ail.["]1817 (date written), Walter Scott, “[Songs and Miscellanies.] Search after Happiness; or, The Quest of Sultaun Solimaun”, in The Poetical Works of Walter Scott, Esq. […], volume X, Edinburgh: […]...
    • Nor took a punch nor given a swing, / But just soaked deady round the ring / Until their brains and bloods were foul / Enough to make their throttles howl, […]1911, John Masefield, The Everlasting Mercy, London: Sidgwick & Jackson, Ltd., page 7

Verb

throttle (third-person singular simple present throttles, present participle throttling, simple past and past participle throttled)

  1. (transitive) To control or adjust the speed of (an engine).
  2. (transitive) To cut back on the speed of (an engine, person, organization, network connection, etc.).
  3. (transitive) To strangle or choke someone.
    • Grant him this, and the Parliament hath no more freedom than if it sat in his noose, which, when he pleases to draw together with one twitch of his negative, shall throttle a whole nation, to the wish of Caligula, in one neck.1649, J[ohn] Milton, ΕΙΚΟΝΟΚΛΆΣΤΗΣ [Eikonoklástēs] […], London: […] Matthew Simmons, […], →OCLC
  4. (intransitive) To have the throat obstructed so as to be in danger of suffocation; to choke; to suffocate.
  5. (intransitive) To breathe hard, as when nearly suffocated.
  6. (transitive) To utter with breaks and interruption, in the manner of a person half suffocated.
    • I have seen them shiver and look pale,
      Make periods in the midst of sentences,
      Throttle their practised accent in their fears.c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First...

throttle meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

throttle in Hindi

throttle
टेंटुआ दबाना ṭẽṭuā dabānā

throttle in Tamil

குரல்வளை, நெரித்துத்தடு, வளிமக் கட்டுப்பாட்டுத் தடுக்கிதழ், ஊசிவாய், நெருக்கு, முறுக்குதல்

throttle in Marathi

to strangle someone
गळा दाबणे gaḷā dābṇe

throttle in Urdu

گلا, نرخرہ, گلا گھونٹنا
More languagesFewer languages
throttle in Bengali
থ্রোটল, থ্রটল, থ্রাটল
throttle in Telugu
థ్రోటిల్, థ్రోటల్, త్రోటిల్
throttle in Malayalam
തൊണ്ടപിടിച്ചു ശ്വാസംമുട്ടിക്കുക
throttle in Kannada
ಕುತ್ತಿಗೆ ಹಿಚುಕು, ಅಡಗಿಸು, ತೆಗಳು, ಹತೋಟಿಯಲ್ಲಿಡು
throttle in Punjabi
ਥ੍ਰੌਟਲ, ਥ੍ਰੋਟਲ, ਥਰੋਟਲ
throttle in Gujarati
થ્રોટલ, થ્રૉટલ, થ્રેટલ
throttle in Odia
ଥ୍ରୋଟଲ୍, ଥ୍ରୋଟଲ, ଥ୍ରାଟଲ
throttle in Nepali
थ्रोटल, थ्रोटलिंग, थ्रोटलिङ
throttle in Tagalog
panubo

Examples of throttle in a sentence

  • You let off the throttle while you're shifting, then you resume once you've caught the next gear.
  • The engineer let out the throttle after the train crossed the bridge.
  • Since noon she's been working at full throttle on the calculations.

All 40 example sentences with throttle

Synonyms of throttle

Forms of throttle

Noun
pluralthrottles
Verb
third-person singular presentthrottles
present participlethrottling
past participlethrottled
pastthrottled

Plural of throttle: throttles

Origin of throttle

From Middle English *throtel, diminutive of throte (“throat”), equivalent to throat + -le. Compare German Drossel (“throttle”). More at throat.

From Middle English throtlen (“to choke, strangle, suffocate”), from the noun (see above). Compare German erdrosseln (“to strangle, choke, throttle”).

Words formed from throttle

Phrases with throttle

Words that rhyme with throttle

Questions about throttle

What does throttle mean?
Throttle means a valve that regulates the supply of fuel-air mixture to an internal combustion engine and thus controls its speed; a similar valve that controls the air supply to an engine.
What is throttle in Hindi?
Throttle in Hindi is टेंटुआ दबाना (ṭẽṭuā dabānā). See Throttle meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is throttle?
Throttle can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce throttle?
Throttle is pronounced /ˈθɹɒtəl/ (UK).
What is the plural of throttle?
The plural of throttle is throttles.

Words near throttle in the dictionary

  1. throstles
  2. throte
  3. throtes
  4. throtteen
  5. throttlable
  6. throttle
  7. throttle bodies
  8. throttle body
  9. throttle down
  10. throttle jockey
  11. throttle jockeys

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: throttle (page history and authors); टेंटुआ दबाना (Hindi) (page history and authors); throttle (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); throttle (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); throttle (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); throttle (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); throttle (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); throttle (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); throttle (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); throttle (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); throttle (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); throttle (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-throttle.wav.

Cite this entry: “throttle.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/throttle. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.