Emily Dickinson Lexicon

CHO'AN-ITE, n.

A zoophyte of the chalk. – Mantell.

CHOCK, n.¹ [from choke.]

In marine language, a kind of wedge for confining a cask or other body, to prevent it from moving. Chocks of the rudder, are pieces of timber kept in readiness to stop the motion of the rudder, in case of an accident, &c. – Mar. Dict.

CHOCK, n.²

An encounter. [See Shock.]

CHOC'O-LATE, n. [Fr. chocolat; Sp. and Port. chocolate; It. cioccolata, from cacao.]

1. A paste or cake composed of the kernel of cacao, with other ingredients, usually a little sugar, cinnamon or vanilla. The nut is first ground fine, mixed with the ingredients, and put in a mold.
2. The liquor made by dissolving chocolate in boiling water.

CHOC'O-LATE-HOUSE, n.

A house where company may be served with chocolate.

CHOC'O-LATE-NUT, n.

See CACAO.

CHODE, v. [The old preterit of Chide, – which see.]

CHOICE, a.

1. Worthy of being preferred; select; precious; very valuable. My choicest hours of life are lost. – Swift. My revenue is better than choice silver. – Prov. viii.
2. Holding dear; preserving or using with care, as valuable; frugal; as, to be choice of time or of advantages.
3. Selecting with care, and due attention to preference; as, to be choice of one's company.

CHOICE, n. [Fr. choix; Arm. choas; Sax. cyse; D. keus. See Choose.]

1. The act of choosing; the voluntary act of selecting or separating from two or more things that which is preferred; or the determination of the mind in preferring one thing to another; election. Ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the Gospel, and believe. – Acts xv.
2. The power of choosing; option. Where there is force, there can be no choice. Of these alternatives we have our own choice. – Anon.
3. Care in selecting; judgment or skill in distinguishing what is to be preferred, and in giving a preference. I imagine Cesar's apothems were collected with judgment and choice. – Bacon.
4. The thing chosen; that which is approved and selected in preference to others; selection. Nor let thy conquests only be her choice. – Prior.
5. The best part of any thing; that which is preferable, and properly the object of choice. In the choice of our sepulchers bury thy dead. – Gen. xxiii.
6. The act of electing to office by vote; election. To make choice of, to choose; to select; to separate and take in preference.

CHOICE'-DRAWN, a.

Selected with particular care. – Shak.

CHOICE'LESS, a. [chois'less.]

Not having the power of choosing; not free. – Hammond.

CHOICE'LY, adv. [chois'ly.]

1. With care in choosing; with nice regard to preference; with exact choice; as, a band of men choicely collected.
2. Valuably; excellently; preferably; curiously.
3. With great care; carefully; as, a thing choicely preserved.

CHOICE'NESS, n. [chois'ness.]

Valuableness; particular value or worth; as, the choiceness of a plant or of wine.

CHOIR, n. [quire; L. chorus; Gr. χορος; Fr. chœur; Sp. Port. and It. coro; Sax. chor; D. choor; G. chor; Ar. كَارَ kaura, to go round, to collect or bind. See Chorus.]

1. A collection of singers, especially in divine service, in a church.
2. Any collection of singers.
3. That part of a church appropriated for the singers, seperated from the chancel and the nave. In congregational and some other churches, the singers are placed in certain seats in the galleries.
4. In nunneries, a large hall adjoining to the body of the church, separated by a grate, where the nuns sing the office.

CHOIR-SER-VICE, n.

The service of singing performed by a choir. – Warton.

CHOKE, n.

The filamentous or capillary part of the artichoke. – Johnson.

CHOKE, v.i.

1. To have the windpipe stopped; as cattle are apt to choke when eating potatoes.
2. To be offended; to take exceptions.

CHOKE, v.t. [Sax. aceocan. In Arm. coucq or goucq, is the neck, with which choke may be connected, in the sense of narrowness or compression. The sense of choke is to stuff, thrust down or stop; or to compress, or bind tight. (The Sp. ahogar is the Port. afogar, L. suffoco.) It is probably allied to the Sp. cegar, to shut, L. cæcus, Eng. key, Sax. cæg.]

1. To stop the passage of the breath, by filling the windpipe or compressing the neck. The word is used to express a temporary or partial stoppage, as to choke with dirt or smoke; or an entire stoppage that causes death; to suffocate; to strangle. Mark v.
2. To stop by filling; to obstruct; to block up; as, to choke the entrance of a harbor, or any passage.
3. To hinder by obstruction or impediments; to hinder or check growth, expansion, or progress; as, to choke plants; to choke the spreading of the fruit. – Bacon. Thorns choke them. – Matth. xiii. Luke viii.
4. To smother or suffocate, as fire. – Dryden.
5. To suppress or stifle; as, to choke the strong conception. – Shak.
6. To offend; to cause to take an exception; as, I was choked at this word. – Swift. We observe that this word generally implies crowding, stuffing or covering. A channel is choked by stones and sand, but not by a boom.

CHOKE'-CHER-RY, n.

The popular name of a species of wild cherry, remarkable for its astringent qualities.

CHOK'ED, pp.

Suffocated; strangled; obstructed by filling; stifled; suppressed; smothered.

CHOKE'-DAMP, n.

Noxious vapor in wells, coal mines, and other pits.

CHOKE'-FULL, n. [choke and full.]

Full as possible; quite full.

CHOKE'-PEAR, n.

1. A kind of pear that has a rough astringent taste, and is swallowed with difficulty, or which contracts the parts of the mouth.
2. An aspersion or sarcasm by which a person is put to silence. [A low term.] Clarissa.

CHOK'ER, n.

One that chokes another; one that puts another to silence; that which cannot be answered. – Johnson.

CHOKE'-WEED, n.

A plant so called.