choke vs shut off

choke

verb
  • To be checked or stopped, as if by choking 

  • To prevent (someone) from breathing or talking by strangling or filling the windpipe. 

  • To perform badly at a crucial stage of a competition, especially when one appears to be clearly winning. 

  • To hold the club or bat lower on the shaft in order to shorten one's swing. 

  • To use the choke valve of (a vehicle) to adjust the air/fuel mixture in the engine. 

  • To be unable to breathe because of obstruction of the windpipe (for instance food or other objects that go down the wrong way, or fumes or particles in the air that cause the throat to constrict). 

  • To have a feeling of strangulation in one's throat as a result of passion or strong emotion. 

  • To move one's fingers very close to the tip of a pencil, brush or other art tool. 

  • To reach a condition of maximum flowrate, due to the flow at the narrowest point of the duct becoming sonic (Ma = 1). 

  • To make or install a choke, as in a cartridge, or in the bore of the barrel of a shotgun. 

  • To check or stop (an utterance or voice) as if by choking. 

  • To obstruct (a passage, etc.) by filling it up or clogging it. 

  • To hinder or check, as growth, expansion, progress, etc.; to kill (a plant by robbing it of nutrients); to extinguish (fire by robbing it of oxygen). 

  • To give (someone) a feeling of strangulation as a result of passion or strong emotion. 

  • To say (something) with one’s throat constricted (due to emotion, for example). 

noun
  • A constriction at the muzzle end of a shotgun barrel which affects the spread of the shot. 

  • A control on a carburetor to adjust the air/fuel mixture when the engine is cold. 

  • The mass of immature florets in the centre of the bud of an artichoke. 

  • A choking coil. 

  • In wrestling, karate (etc.), a type of hold that can result in strangulation. 

  • A partial or complete blockage (of boulders, mud, etc.) in a cave passage. 

  • A major mistake at a crucial stage of a competition because one is nervous, especially when one is winning. 

shut off

verb
  • To stop or turn off. 

  • To separate; to isolate. 

How often have the words choke and shut off occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )