Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A valve that regulates the flow of a fluid, such as the valve in an internal-combustion engine that controls the amount of vaporized fuel entering the cylinders.
  • noun A lever or pedal controlling such a valve.
  • transitive verb To regulate the flow of (fuel) in an engine.
  • transitive verb To regulate the speed of (an engine) with a throttle.
  • transitive verb To suppress.
  • transitive verb To strangle (a person); choke.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To choke; suffocate; have the throat obstructed so as to be in danger of suffocation.
  • To breathe hard, as when nearly suffocated.
  • To choke; suffocate; stop the breath of by compressing the throat; strangle.
  • To pronounce with a choking voice; utter with breaks and interruptions, like a person half suffocated.
  • To obstruct by a throttle-valve or otherwise: said of steam, a steam-pipe, or a steam-engine.
  • Synonyms Strangle, etc. See smother.
  • noun The throat.
  • noun The windpipe or thropple: same as throat, 2 .
  • noun A throttle-valve.
  • In electricity, to reduce (the flux in a magnetic circuit) by diminishing the cross-section of the iron traversed by the lines of force, or by the introduction of joints or air-gaps.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb To have the throat obstructed so as to be in danger of suffocation; to choke; to suffocate.
  • intransitive verb To breathe hard, as when nearly suffocated.
  • noun The windpipe, or trachea; the weasand.
  • noun (Steam Engine) The throttle valve.
  • noun (Steam Engine) the hand lever by which a throttle valve is moved, especially in a locomotive.
  • noun (Steam Engine) a valve moved by hand or by a governor for regulating the supply of steam to the steam chest. In one form it consists of a disk turning on a transverse axis.
  • transitive verb To compress the throat of; to choke; to strangle.
  • transitive verb rare To utter with breaks and interruption, in the manner of a person half suffocated.
  • transitive verb To shut off, or reduce flow of, as steam to an engine.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • 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 The lever or pedal that controls this valve.
  • verb transitive To cut back on the speed of (an engine, person, organization, network connection, etc.).
  • verb transitive To strangle or choke someone.
  • verb intransitive To have the throat obstructed so as to be in danger of suffocation; to choke; to suffocate.
  • verb intransitive To breathe hard, as when nearly suffocated.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb place limits on (extent or access)
  • noun a valve that regulates the supply of fuel to the engine
  • noun a pedal that controls the throttle valve
  • verb kill by squeezing the throat of so as to cut off the air
  • verb reduce the air supply

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Short for throttle valve, from throttle, to strangle, choke, from Middle English throtelen, probably from throte, throat; see throat.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

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

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

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

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word throttle.

Examples

  • The sneaky thing about the virus is that it steps on your endorphin throttle pretty hard as it goes to work.

    365 tomorrows » 2009 » April : A New Free Flash Fiction SciFi Story Every Day 2009

  • In airplanes, the power lever is called a throttle and is normally mounted perpendicular to the floor.

    The Dream Machine Richard Whittle 2010

  • In airplanes, the power lever is called a throttle and is normally mounted perpendicular to the floor.

    The Dream Machine Richard Whittle 2010

  • In airplanes, the power lever is called a throttle and is normally mounted perpendicular to the floor.

    The Dream Machine Richard Whittle 2010

  • I thought that I might go faster by not giving the motor the full throttle because the more the throttle is extended, the more wheel spin one gets and I came back with what must have been a three quarter opening of the throttle and the speed on the return journey was only two miles an hours less than before.

    An Address by Sir Malcolm Campbell 1933

  • The throttle is easier to push, so you’ll have less thumb fatigue.

    Quad 2009 ATV Buyers Guide 2009

  • While the new protests are welcome, at this point the only thing that will pull back the throttle is a White House intervention.

    Government vs. EPA 2011

  • But he says he did have some luck with a device called a throttle-body spacer, which swirled the air and fuel mixture closer to the engine.

    Do Fuel-Saving Gadgets 2008

  • The passage-way from the mixing chamber to the intake manifold is controlled by a butterfly valve which is called the throttle-valve and is connected to the throttle-lever on the steering wheel as well as to the foot accelerator, its position determining the amount of gas and air or mixture being fed the engine.

    Marvel Carbureter and Heat Control As Used on Series 691 Nash Sixes Booklet S Anonymous

  • In a moment more I saw I was mistaken, for at the throttle was a uniformed soldier, and another comrade in his gray-green costume was shoveling coal into the furnace.

    In the Claws of the German Eagle Albert Rhys Williams 1922

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.