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chop.

A cut of meat, often containing a section of a rib.

4 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/t͡ʃɒp/UK/t͡ʃɑp/US
  1. A cut of meat, often containing a section of a rib.

    countable · uncountable
    I only like lamb chops with mint jelly.
  2. A blow with an axe, cleaver, or similar implement.

    countable · uncountable
    It should take just one good chop to fell the sapling.
  3. A blow delivered with the hand rigid and outstretched.

    countable · uncountable
    A karate chop.
  4. Ocean waves, generally caused by wind, distinguished from swell by being smaller and not lasting as long.

    countable · uncountable
  5. A hand where two or more players have an equal-valued hand, resulting in the chips being shared equally between them.

    countable · uncountable
    With both players having an ace-high straight, the pot was a chop.
  6. Termination, especially from employment; the sack.

    countable · informal · uncountable · with-definite-article
  7. A woodchopping competition.

    Australia · New-Zealand · countable · uncountable
  8. A crack or cleft; a chap.

    countable · dated · uncountable
  9. Aircraft turbulence.

    uncountable
  10. Cocaine.

    UK · countable · slang · uncountable
  11. A knife, especially one used as a weapon.

    Multicultural-London-English · countable · slang · uncountable
Where this word comes from

From Middle English choppen, chappen (“to chop”), of uncertain origin, possibly onomatopoeic (cf. Swedish tjoff), or a variant of chap (“to become cracked”). Cognate with Scots chap (“to chop”). Compare also Saterland Frisian kappe, kapje (“to hack; chop; lop off”), Dutch kappen (“to chop, cut, hew”), German Low German kappen (“to cut off; clip”), German kappen (“to cut; clip”), German dialectal chapfen, kchapfen (“to chop into small pieces”), Albanian copë (“piece, chunk”), Old English *ċippian (in forċippian (“to cut off”)). Perhaps related to chip. Compare French couper (“to chop”), Ancient Greek κόπτω (kóptō, “to strike, cut”), Swedish and Norwegian kapa, kappa, kabba (“to chop/cut (off)”).

verb/t͡ʃɒp/UK/t͡ʃɑp/US
  1. To cut into pieces with short, vigorous cutting motions.

    transitive
    chop wood; chop an onion
  2. To sever with an axe or similar implement.

    transitive
    Chop off his head.
  3. To separate or divide.

    figuratively · transitive
    We should chop off some of that department's budget.
  4. to give a downward cutting blow or movement, typically with the side of the hand.

    transitive
  5. To hit the ball downward so that it takes a high bounce.

    transitive
  6. To divide the pot (or tournament prize) between two or more players.

  7. To make a quick, heavy stroke or a series of strokes, with or as with an ax.

    intransitive
  8. To do something suddenly with an unexpected motion; to catch or attempt to seize.

    intransitive
  9. To interrupt; with in or out.

    intransitive
  10. To stab.

    Hong-Kong · transitive
  11. To remove the final character from (a text string).

    transitive
  12. To manipulate or separate out a line of cocaine.

    slang · transitive
    He chopped out a fat line.
  13. To have sex with.

    slang · transitive
    One of my bredrins is saying, what's the oldest ting he can chop?
Where this word comes from

From Middle English choppen, chappen (“to chop”), of uncertain origin, possibly onomatopoeic (cf. Swedish tjoff), or a variant of chap (“to become cracked”). Cognate with Scots chap (“to chop”). Compare also Saterland Frisian kappe, kapje (“to hack; chop; lop off”), Dutch kappen (“to chop, cut, hew”), German Low German kappen (“to cut off; clip”), German kappen (“to cut; clip”), German dialectal chapfen, kchapfen (“to chop into small pieces”), Albanian copë (“piece, chunk”), Old English *ċippian (in forċippian (“to cut off”)). Perhaps related to chip. Compare French couper (“to chop”), Ancient Greek κόπτω (kóptō, “to strike, cut”), Swedish and Norwegian kapa, kappa, kabba (“to chop/cut (off)”).

verb/t͡ʃɒp/UK/t͡ʃɑp/US
  1. To exchange, to barter; to swap.

    obsolete
  2. To chap or crack.

  3. To vary or shift suddenly.

    The wind chops about.
  4. To twist words.

    obsolete
  5. To converse, discuss, or speak with another.

Where this word comes from

Uncertain, perhaps a variant of chap (“cheap”). Compare Middle English copen (“to buy”), Dutch kopen (“to buy”).

noun/t͡ʃɒp/UK/t͡ʃɑp/US
  1. A turn of fortune; change; a vicissitude.

Where this word comes from

Uncertain, perhaps a variant of chap (“cheap”). Compare Middle English copen (“to buy”), Dutch kopen (“to buy”).

noun/t͡ʃɒp/UK/t͡ʃɑp/US
  1. A jaw of an animal.

    in-plural
  2. A movable jaw or cheek, as of a vice.

  3. The land at each side of the mouth of a river, harbour, or channel.

    East Chop
    West Chop
Where this word comes from

From Middle English choppe (“jaw, jawbone”), related to Middle English cheppe (“one side of the jaw, chap”). Perhaps ultimately related to Etymology 1 above.

noun/t͡ʃɒp/UK/t͡ʃɑp/US
  1. A stamp or seal; a mark, imprint or impression on a document (or other object or material) made by stamping or sealing a design with ink or wax, respectively, or by other methods.

    Brunei · Hong-Kong · India · Malaysia · Singapore · colloquial
  2. The device used for stamping or sealing, which also contains the design to be imprinted.

    Brunei · Malaysia · Singapore · broadly · colloquial
  3. A mark indicating nature, quality, or brand.

  4. A licence or passport that has been sealed.

  5. A complete shipment.

Where this word comes from

Borrowed from Hindi छाप (chāp, “stamp”). Closely related to the similarly descended Malay word cap, which likely reinforced the English usage within the Malay world.

verb/t͡ʃɒp/UK/t͡ʃɑp/US
  1. To stamp or seal (a document); to mark, impress or otherwise place a design or symbol on paper or other material, usually, but not necessarily, to indicate authenticity.

    Brunei · Hong-Kong · India · Malaysia · Singapore · colloquial · transitive
  2. To seal a licence or passport.

Where this word comes from

Borrowed from Hindi छाप (chāp, “stamp”). Closely related to the similarly descended Malay word cap, which likely reinforced the English usage within the Malay world.

noun/t͡ʃɒp/UK/t͡ʃɑp/US
  1. An IRC channel operator.

    Internet
Where this word comes from

Shortening.

verb/t͡ʃɒp/UK/t͡ʃɑp/US
  1. To fly a helicopter or be flown in a helicopter.

    informal
    We chopped back to the base.
Where this word comes from

Shortening of chopper.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.