diff --git a/Doc/library/argparse.rst b/Doc/library/argparse.rst
index ef2fd42783c8772..a3e0ac7ce2231b9 100644
--- a/Doc/library/argparse.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/argparse.rst
@@ -672,7 +672,7 @@ The add_argument() method
 
    * type_ - The type to which the command-line argument should be converted.
 
-   * choices_ - A container of the allowable values for the argument.
+   * choices_ - An iterable of the allowable values for the argument.
 
    * required_ - Whether or not the command-line option may be omitted
      (optionals only).
@@ -1076,7 +1076,7 @@ choices
 ^^^^^^^
 
 Some command-line arguments should be selected from a restricted set of values.
-These can be handled by passing a container object as the *choices* keyword
+These can be handled by passing an iterable as the *choices* keyword
 argument to :meth:`~ArgumentParser.add_argument`.  When the command line is
 parsed, argument values will be checked, and an error message will be displayed
 if the argument was not one of the acceptable values::
@@ -1090,9 +1090,9 @@ if the argument was not one of the acceptable values::
    game.py: error: argument move: invalid choice: 'fire' (choose from 'rock',
    'paper', 'scissors')
 
-Note that inclusion in the *choices* container is checked after any type_
+Note that inclusion in the *choices* iterable is checked after any type_
 conversions have been performed, so the type of the objects in the *choices*
-container should match the type_ specified::
+iterable should match the type_ specified::
 
    >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='doors.py')
    >>> parser.add_argument('door', type=int, choices=range(1, 4))
@@ -1103,7 +1103,7 @@ container should match the type_ specified::
    doors.py: error: argument door: invalid choice: 4 (choose from 1, 2, 3)
 
 Any object that supports the ``in`` operator can be passed as the *choices*
-value, so :class:`dict` objects, :class:`set` objects, custom containers,
+value, so :class:`dict` objects, :class:`set` objects, custom iterables,
 etc. are all supported.
 
 
diff --git a/Lib/argparse.py b/Lib/argparse.py
index a300828f9e3d2ea..8e65ee31325455f 100644
--- a/Lib/argparse.py
+++ b/Lib/argparse.py
@@ -784,7 +784,7 @@ class Action(_AttributeHolder):
             float, and complex are useful examples of such callables.  If None,
             str is used.
 
-        - choices -- A container of values that should be allowed. If not None,
+        - choices -- An iterable of values that should be allowed. If not None,
             after a command-line argument has been converted to the appropriate
             type, an exception will be raised if it is not a member of this
             collection.
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Documentation/2019-08-08-10-31-23.bpo-37793.o0Akc8.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Documentation/2019-08-08-10-31-23.bpo-37793.o0Akc8.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000000..0b9141863cb6f29
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Documentation/2019-08-08-10-31-23.bpo-37793.o0Akc8.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+Changed the wording in the argparse documentation and argparse.py docstring
+by removing the usage of the word "container" and replace it with
+"iterable".