Chap
name, noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 A man, a fellow.
"Who’s that chap over there?"
- 2 A cleft, crack, or chink, as in the surface of the earth, or in the skin.
- 3 The jaw. archaic, in-plural, often
"This wide-chapp'd rascal—would thou might'st lie drowning / The washing of ten tides!"
- 4 Clipping of chapter (“division of a text”). Internet, abbreviation, alt-of, clipping
- 5 (usually in the plural) leather leggings without a seat; joined by a belt; often have flared outer flaps; worn over trousers by cowboys to protect their legs wordnet
Show 8 more definitions
- 6 A customer, a buyer. UK, dialectal
"If you have Blacks of any kind, brought in of late; Mantoes--Velvet Scarfs--Petticoats--Let it be what it will--I am your Chap--for all my Ladies are very fond of Mourning."
- 7 A division; a breach, as in a party. obsolete
"Many clefts and chaps in our council board."
- 8 One of the jaws or cheeks of a vice, etc.
- 9 a crack in a lip caused usually by cold wordnet
- 10 A child. Southern-US
- 11 A blow; a rap. Scotland
- 12 a boy or man wordnet
- 13 a long narrow depression in a surface wordnet
- 1 Of the skin, to split or flake due to cold weather or dryness. intransitive
- 2 crack due to dehydration wordnet
- 3 To cause to open in slits or chinks; to split; to cause the skin of to crack or become rough. transitive
"Then would unbalanced heat licentious reign, / Crack the dry hill, and chap the russet plain."
- 4 To strike, knock. Northern-England, Scotland
"And then it seems that through the open door there came the chapping of a clock."
- 1 Initialism of Challenge-Handshake Authentication Protocol. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
- 2 A surname from Khmer.
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples"There was a time when Christopher Columbus challenged another explorer to a duel. The latter, an underhanded chap, did not take ten steps - as dictated by the rules - but two, then turned around to shoot. Unfortunately for him, Columbus hadn't taken any steps at all."
Etymology
Clipping of chapman (“dealer, customer”) in 16th-century English.
From Middle English chappen (“to split open, burst, chap”), of uncertain origin. Compare Middle English choppen (“to chop”), Dutch kappen (“to cut, chop, hack”). Perhaps related to chip.
From Northern English chafts (“jaws”). Compare also Middle English cheppe (“one side of the jaw, chap”).
Shortening
Borrowed from Khmer ឆាប (chaap).
Related phrases
More for "chap"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.