Chop

/t͡ʃɑp/ name, noun, verb, slang

name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level

Meaning at a glance

  • Primary sense: A cut of meat, often containing a section of a rib.
  • Grammar: chop is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
  • Nearest alternatives: alter, ameliorate, amputate, ax.
  • Useful contrasts: expand, increase, join.
  • Usage evidence: 1. Finely chop the chicken breast meat.

How to use "chop"

  1. Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
  2. Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "chop" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
  3. Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.

Meaning check

  • Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
  • Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
  • Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
  • Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?

Source and review context

This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "chop" in a final draft.

If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.

Before you rely on this definition

Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "chop" as the right word for your sentence.

If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "chop" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.

Compare nearby meanings

  • Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
  • Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
  • Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
  • Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.

Definition decision workflow

1. Identify the role

Check whether "chop" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.

2. Test the nearest option

Compare it with "alter" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.

3. Confirm with context

Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.

Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.

Final meaning check

Before publishing a sentence with "chop", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.

When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A cut of meat, often containing a section of a rib. countable, uncountable

    "I only like lamb chops with mint jelly."

  2. 2
    A turn of fortune; change; a vicissitude.
  3. 3
    A jaw of an animal. in-plural
  4. 4
    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
  5. 5
    An IRC channel operator. Internet

    "IRC supports mechanisms for the enforcement of acceptable behaviour on IRC. Channel operators — "chanops" or "chops" — have access to the /kick command, which throws a specified user out of the given channel."

Show 24 more definitions
  1. 6
    To fly a helicopter or be flown in a helicopter. informal

    "We chopped back to the base."

  2. 7
    a chemotherapy regimen used in the treatment of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, consisting of Cyclophosphamide, Hydroxydaunorubicin (also called doxorubicin or adriamycin), Oncovin (vincristine) and Prednisone or Prednisolone abbreviation, acronym, uncountable
  3. 8
    a grounder that bounces high in the air wordnet
  4. 9
    A blow with an axe, cleaver, or similar implement. countable, uncountable

    "It should take just one good chop to fell the sapling."

  5. 10
    A movable jaw or cheek, as of a vice.
  6. 11
    The device used for stamping or sealing, which also contains the design to be imprinted. Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore, broadly, colloquial
  7. 12
    Acronym of change of operational control. abbreviation, acronym, alt-of, countable, uncountable
  8. 13
    a tennis return made with a downward motion that puts backspin on the ball wordnet
  9. 14
    A blow delivered with the hand rigid and outstretched. countable, uncountable

    "A karate chop."

  10. 15
    The land at each side of the mouth of a river, harbour, or channel.

    "East Chop"

  11. 16
    A mark indicating nature, quality, or brand.

    "silk of the first chop"

  12. 17
    a jaw wordnet
  13. 18
    Ocean waves, generally caused by wind, distinguished from swell by being smaller and not lasting as long. countable, uncountable
  14. 19
    A licence or passport that has been sealed.
  15. 20
    a small cut of meat including part of a rib wordnet
  16. 21
    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."

  17. 22
    A complete shipment.

    "a chop of tea"

  18. 23
    the irregular motion of waves (usually caused by wind blowing in a direction opposite to the tide) wordnet
  19. 24
    Termination, especially from employment; the sack. countable, informal, uncountable, with-definite-article
  20. 25
    A woodchopping competition. Australia, New-Zealand, countable, uncountable

    "E, C. McsEnulty, who won the chop at the show on Thursday, cut through a foot lying block in 34 seconds[.]"

  21. 26
    A crack or cleft; a chap. countable, dated, uncountable
  22. 27
    Aircraft turbulence. uncountable
  23. 28
    Cocaine. UK, countable, slang, uncountable
  24. 29
    A knife, especially one used as a weapon. Multicultural-London-English, countable, slang, uncountable

    "It's peak when the mandem spotty I gonna need more than a dot-dot Capisce, got a problem for swinging this chop?"

Verb
  1. 1
    To cut into pieces with short, vigorous cutting motions. transitive

    "chop wood; chop an onion"

  2. 2
    To exchange, to barter; to swap. obsolete

    "this is not to put down Prelaty, this is but to chop an Episcopacy; this is but to translate the Palace Metropolitan from one kind of dominion into another, this is but an old canonicall sleight of commuting our penance."

  3. 3
    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
  4. 4
    hit sharply wordnet
  5. 5
    To sever with an axe or similar implement. transitive

    "Chop off his head."

Show 21 more definitions
  1. 6
    To chap or crack.
  2. 7
    To seal a licence or passport.
  3. 8
    cut with a hacking tool wordnet
  4. 9
    To separate or divide. figuratively, transitive

    "We should chop off some of that department's budget."

  5. 10
    To vary or shift suddenly.

    "The wind chops about."

  6. 11
    cut into pieces with repeated blows wordnet
  7. 12
    to give a downward cutting blow or movement, typically with the side of the hand. transitive
  8. 13
    To twist words. obsolete

    "Let not the counsel at the bar chop with the judge."

  9. 14
    strike sharply, as in some sports wordnet
  10. 15
    To hit the ball downward so that it takes a high bounce. transitive
  11. 16
    To converse, discuss, or speak with another.
  12. 17
    form or shape by chopping wordnet
  13. 18
    To divide the pot (or tournament prize) between two or more players.
  14. 19
    move suddenly wordnet
  15. 20
    To make a quick, heavy stroke or a series of strokes, with or as with an ax. intransitive
  16. 21
    To do something suddenly with an unexpected motion; to catch or attempt to seize. intransitive

    "Out of a Greediness to get both, he Chops at the Shadow, and Loses the Substance."

  17. 22
    To interrupt; with in or out. intransitive

    "This fellow […]interrupted the sermon, even suddenly chopping in."

  18. 23
    To stab. Hong-Kong, transitive

    "A man had chopped a Sanitary Department coolie to death after an argument about money, Supreme Court was told today."

  19. 24
    To remove the final character from (a text string). transitive
  20. 25
    To manipulate or separate out a line of cocaine. slang, transitive

    "He chopped out a fat line."

  21. 26
    To have sex with. slang, transitive

    "One of my bredrins is saying, what's the oldest ting he can chop?"

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    Acronym of Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. abbreviation, acronym, alt-of

    "[…] said study co-leader William H. Peranteau, MD, a pediatric and fetal surgeon in CHOP's Center for Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment."

  2. 2
    A city in Uzhhorod Raion, Zakarpattia Oblast, Ukraine.
  3. 3
    Acronym of Capitol Hill Occupied Protest. abbreviation, acronym, alt-of, historical

Synonyms

All synonyms
alterameliorateamputateaxaxeaxed

Example

"1. Finely chop the chicken breast meat."

Common questions

What does "chop" mean?

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

What is a synonym for "chop"?

Common synonyms include: alter, ameliorate, amputate, ax, axe, axed.

How do you use "chop" in a sentence?

1. Finely chop the chicken breast meat.

How do you pronounce "chop"?

Pronounced /t͡ʃɑp/.

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English choppen, chappen (“to chop”), of uncertain origin, possibly onomatopoeic, 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.

Etymology 2

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

Etymology 3

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

Etymology 4

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.

Etymology 5

Shortening.

Etymology 6

Shortening of chopper.

Etymology 7

Derived from Ukrainian Чоп (Čop)

More for "chop"

Synonyms

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