Choke

chok (pnigo, and its compounds): Is used in its primary sense of "to strangle," or "to suffocate," in describing the fate of the swine (Lu 8:33 the King James Version). The Revised Version (British and American) has "drowned," but "choked" is the correct rendering of the Greek word.

Figurative: It is used in the sense of "to strangle" "smother," "suffocate," as if by depriving of breath, in describing the fate of the young grain growing in the midst of thorns (Mt 13:7). The figurative is carried a little farther still in describing the way the word, planted in the heart, is overcome by the care of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches (Mt 13:22).

A. W. Fortune