A term used when a player almost obtains a full combo while playing a beatmap, but breaks combo near the end. On the contrary, a reverse choke is when a player breaks combo at the beginning, but holds it throughout the rest of the beatmap. In osu! and osu!catch, the difference in total score between regular and reverse chokes may be drastic, as late misses cause a player to potentially lose more score due to the large score multiplier from the accumulated combo.
The term is also used by many other online communities to describe the same or similar events and actions (e.g. Super Smash Bros. or speedrunning).
The key characteristic of a choke is its randomness and inconsistent performance. This excludes regular or pattern-specific misses or slider breaks, which are usually tied to a player's skill level, or how the beatmap is constructed. Chokes are typically caused by excessive mental stress and nervousness during gameplay, as well as overall fatigue.