lump in one's throat

English[edit]

(idiomatic) Strong emotion, either happy or sad, causing someone to be on the verge of crying; a sensation of tightness in the throat associated with this.
After hearing his story I could hardly speak for the lump in my throat.
- 2017 September 23, “From north Wales to Norfolk, distraught beekeepers ask: who’s stealing our hives?”, in The Observer‎^[1]:
  There was a lump in Katie Hayward’s throat as she spoke about the emotional impact of the thefts that have cast a shadow over Britain’s beekeepers. “The heartbreaking thing is that it’s a very close community. The fact that one beekeeper does this to another is the hardest thing of all,” she says.

on the point of crying