noun
- Also called throttle lever. a lever, pedal, handle, etc., for controlling or manipulating a throttle valve.
- throttle valve.
- the throat, gullet, or windpipe, as of a horse.
verb (used with object), throt·tled, throt·tling.
- to stop the breath of by compressing the throat; strangle.
- to choke or suffocate in any way.
- to compress by fastening something tightly around.
- to silence or check as if by choking: His message was throttled by censorship.
- Machinery.
- to obstruct or check the flow of (a fluid), as to control the speed of an engine.
- to reduce the pressure of (a fluid) by passing it from a smaller area to a larger one.
Idioms
- at full throttle, at maximum speed.
noun
- Also called: throttle valve any device that controls the quantity of fuel or fuel and air mixture entering an engine
- an informal or dialect word for throat
verb (tr)
- to kill or injure by squeezing the throat
- to suppressto throttle the press
- to control or restrict (a flow of fluid) by means of a throttle valve
v.“strangle to death,” c.1400, probably from Middle English throte “throat” (see throat). Related: Throttled; throttling. The noun, in the mechanical sense, is first recorded 1870s, from throttle-valve (1824), but was used earlier as a synonym for “throat” (1540s); it appears to be an independent formation, not derived from the verb.