What’s the difference between choke and drown?
Both of them describe of unable to breathe , but they happen in different way:
When you choke or when something chokes you, you cannot breathe properly or get enough air into your lungs.
When someone drowns or is drowned, they die because they have gone or been pushed under water and cannot breathe.
Both verbs refer to a person or an animal having difficulty breathing which could prove to be fatal. The difference between these two verbs is what causes the difficulty.
Let us take a look at the verb choke first. If a person or an animal is choking it is due to an obstruction of the windpipe making it hard for air to come in and out. This obstruction could be caused by food stuck in the person’s throat or due to strangulation. If a person dies by strangulation this means that their throat is squeezed tightly in order to push against the windpipe to make it impossible for the person to breathe.
Unfortunately, choking on food can easily happen, this is why so many people have learned how to perform a first aid procedure called the Heimlich maneuver. This maneuver treats airway obstruction by repeatedly performing abdominal thrusts until the object is expelled from the body. Once the foreign object is removed, there is nothing obstructing the airway and the person can breathe easily again.
On the other hand, if a person or animal is drowning it means that they can’t get enough air into their lungs because they are submerged in water or another type of liquid. If the person or animal doesn’t get out of the liquid quick enough, they will not be able to breathe and they will die.
Here are some examples of the two verbs being used:
- While dining at a restaurant, the restaurant-goer choked on a piece of meat and was unable to catch her breath. Luckily, one of the waiters had first aid training and was able to dislodge the piece of meat in the woman’s throat, freeing the windpipe and allowing the woman to breathe.
- New parents should learn how to expel food from their child’s throat if the child happens to choke on food or a small object.
- Sometimes pet owners who live in a house with a swimming pool or a pond have to ensure that the animal can’t access the pool to prevent the animal from falling into the pool and drowning.
- The fisherman drowned after being caught in a storm. The storm was so strong that it capsized the fisherman’s boat, leaving him stranded and struggling in the rough sea.
