to choke, to suffocate (see Karttunen); to have a bite of food get caught in the throat (see Molina)
IPAspelling:
eːlsiːmɑ
Alonso de Molina:
elcima. nin. (pret. oninelcin.) atrauesarseme el bocado enlos gaznates. Alonso de Molina, Vocabulario en lengua castellana y mexicana y mexicana y castellana, 1571, part 2, Nahuatl to Spanish, f. 28v. col. 1. Thanks to Joe Campbell for providing the transcription.
Frances Karttunen:
ĒLCĪM(A) vrefl: pret; ĒLCĪN to choke, suffocate / atravesárseme el bocado en los gaznates (M) [(3)Tp.141]. See ĒL-LI. ĒLCĪMALŌ nonact. ĒLCĪM(A) EHĒLCĪM(A) redup. ĒLCĪM(A). Frances Karttunen, An Analytical Dictionary of Nahuatl (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1992), 77.