chokey
/ˈtʃəʊki
/(also choky)
noun (plural chokeys or chokies) [in singular] British informal, dated
1Prison: they sent old Polgar to the chokey then?...
- Which then implies my guilt and before I could say ‘GrocerJack Robinson’, I'm doing a hefty old stretch in the chokey at the pleasure of Her Maj!
- He packed off the burglar for a lengthy spell in the chokey, and settled down for his third trial of the day.
- Herr Pfannenstiel served three-and-a-half months in the chokey recently for match-fixing in the local S-League.
1.1 [mass noun] Imprisonment: three months' chokey...
- In The Prisoner Of Azkaban, Harry Potter is in his third year at Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft And Wizardry when Sirius Black, the man who may have killed his parents, escapes from wizard chokey.
- At 410 years per death that would make the pharmaceutical industry liable for over 43 million years of chokey in the US alone.
- He opted for chokey instead of a £500 fine and is currently out on appeal.
Origin
Early 17th century (in the sense 'customs or toll house'): Anglo-Indian, from Hindi caukī; influenced by choke1.
This slang term for ‘prison’ first appears in English in the original Hindi sense ‘customs or toll house, police station’. The word is Anglo-Indian, from Hindi caukī, influenced by choke.