5 COLOUR Chocolate is used to describe things that are dark brown in colour. □ The curtains and the coverlet of the bed were chocolate velvet. □ She placed the chocolate-coloured coat beside the case. WORD HISTORY chocolate
Europeans were first introduced to chocolate at the court of the Aztec king Montezuma in the 16th century. Chocolate or xocolatl was a bitter Aztec drink made from cocoa beans. The name xocolatl means 'bitter water', from Aztec xococ , meaning 'bitter', and atl , meaning 'water'.
cho colate-box also chocolate box ADJ [ADJ n] Chocolate-box places or images are very pretty but in a boring or conventional way. [BRIT ] □ …a village of chocolate-box timbered houses.
choice ◆◆◇ /tʃɔ I s/ (choices , choicer , choicest )
1 N‑COUNT If there is a choice of things, there are several of them and you can choose the one you want. □ [+ of ] It's available in a choice of colours. □ [+ between ] At lunchtime, there's a choice between the buffet or the set menu. □ [+ of ] Club Sportif offer a wide choice of holidays.
2 N‑COUNT [usu poss N ] Your choice is someone or something that you choose from a range of things. □ [+ of ] Although he was only joking, his choice of words made Rodney angry.
3 ADJ [ADJ n] Choice means of very high quality. [FORMAL ] □ …Fortnum and Mason's choicest chocolates.
4 PHRASE If you have no choice but to do something or have little choice but to do it, you cannot avoid doing it. □ They had little choice but to agree to what he suggested.
5 PHRASE The thing or person of your choice is the one that you choose. □ …tickets to see the football team of your choice. □ In many societies children still marry someone of their parents' choice.
6 PHRASE The item of choice is the one that most people prefer. □ The drug is set to become the treatment of choice for asthma worldwide. COLLOCATIONS choice NOUN
1
adjective + choice : wide
verb + choice : offer, provide; limit, restrict
2
noun + choice : career, film, lifestyle
adjective + choice : informed, obvious, popular, rational
verb + choice : affect, determine, govern, influence; make
choir /kwa I ə r / (choirs ) N‑COUNT A choir is a group of people who sing together, for example in a church or school. □ He has been singing in his church choir since he was six.
choir|boy /kwa I ə r bɔ I / (choirboys ) N‑COUNT A choirboy is a boy who sings in a church choir.
choir|master /kwa I ə r mɑːstə r , -mæst-/ (choirmasters ) N‑COUNT A choirmaster is a person whose job is to train a choir.
choke /tʃoʊ k/ (chokes , choking , choked )
1 VERB When you choke or when something chokes you, you cannot breathe properly or get enough air into your lungs. □ [V ] The coffee was almost too hot to swallow and made him choke for a moment. □ [V + on ] A small child could choke on the doll's hair. □ [V n] Dense smoke swirled and billowed, its rank fumes choking her. □ [V + to ] The girl choked to death after breathing in smoke. □ [V -ing] Within minutes the hall was full of choking smoke.
2 VERB To choke someone means to squeeze their neck until they are dead. □ [V n] The men pushed him into the entrance of a nearby building where they choked him with his tie.
3 VERB [usu passive] If a place is choked with things or people, it is full of them and they prevent movement in it. □ [be V -ed + with ] The village's roads are choked with traffic. □ [be V -ed + by ] His pond has been choked by the fast-growing weed.
4 N‑COUNT [usu sing] The choke in a car, truck, or other vehicle is a device that reduces the amount of air going into the engine and makes it easier to start.
▸ choke back PHRASAL VERB If you choke back tears or a strong emotion, you force yourself not to show your emotion. □ [V P n] Choking back tears, he said Mary died in his arms.
▸ choke off PHRASAL VERB To choke off financial growth means to restrict or control the rate at which a country's economy can grow. □ [V P n] They warned the Chancellor that raising taxes in the Budget could choke off the recovery.
choked /tʃoʊ kt/ ADJ [ADJ n, v-link ADJ with n] If you say something in a choked voice or if your voice is choked with emotion, your voice does not have its full sound, because you are upset or frightened. □ 'Why did Ben do that?' she asked, in a choked voice. □ [+ with ] One young conscript rose with a message of thanks, his voice choked with emotion.
chok|er /tʃoʊ kə r / (chokers ) N‑COUNT A choker is a necklace or band of material that fits very closely round a woman's neck. □ …a pearl choker.
chol|era /kɒ lərə/ N‑UNCOUNT Cholera is a serious disease that often kills people. It is caused by drinking infected water or by eating infected food. □ …a cholera epidemic.
chol|er|ic /kɒ lər I k/ ADJ A choleric person gets angry very easily. You can also use choleric to describe a person who is very angry. [FORMAL ] □ …his choleric disposition. □ He was affable at one moment, choleric the next.