Meaning of this phrase

[Danny McG]

I came across this recently

"By now he was in full throte"

Going by the context I would assume something like "in full swing"

I've looked online for a meaning but Google keeps telling me I mean throttle

Anyone?
Thanks

 

[Alex The G and T]

"Throttle's" what I would have figured. Unless, maybe, "Full Throes."


A singer (or bellower, or a baying hound) might be in "Full Throat."

 

[TheDustyZebra]

Without knowing the rest of the context, I would have guessed they meant throat.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I would have guessed throat, too. Is this something written recently, or two or three centuries ago?

Edit —

I just looked the word up. It is indeed an archaic spelling for throat.

 

[The Judge]

Yep, it's Middle English for throat. I'm pretty sure "in full throat" comes from hunting with hounds as Alex suggests -- when they're on the track of a quarry and/or have found it, they bay loudly, ie the sound you associate with "full-throated".

 

[Danny McG]

Yeah, it was a somewhat dull book from the fifties but written in an "Olde English" style. - I picked it off a shelf of dusty books in dentist waiting room and spent twenty minutes looking at it to distract from the impending drill.

"********* County" - or something like that was the title (can't remember!)

 

[Shorewalker]

It's old English for throat. Chaucer used it in 'Of The Cuckow And The Nightingale' to describe birds singing their loudest.

***Thanks Google***

 

[Danny McG]

Thanks all. Alternate spellings always confuse me

 

[AlexH]

Well, you've prevented Google trying to correct the spelling, as now it's the one and only result!