chop

Etymology 1

From Middle English choppen, chappen (“to chop”), of uncertain origin, possibly an onomatopoeia. Cognate with Scots chap (“to chop”). Compare 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.

noun

1. A cut of meat, often containing a section of a rib.
   I only like lamb chops with mint jelly.
   I was standing at the meat counter, waiting for some rib lamb chops to be cut. 1957, J. D. Salinger, “Zooey”, in Franny and Zooey, published 1961
2. A blow with an axe, cleaver, or similar utensil.
   It should take just one good chop to fell the sapling.
3. (martial arts) A blow delivered with the hand rigid and outstretched.
   A karate chop.
4. Ocean waves, generally caused by wind, distinguished from swell by being smaller and not lasting as long.
5. (poker) A hand where two or more players have an equal-valued hand, resulting in the chips being shared equally between them.
   With both players having an ace-high straight, the pot was a chop.
6. (informal, with "the") Termination, especially from employment; the sack.
7. (Australia, New Zealand) A woodchopping competition.
   E, C. McsEnulty, who won the chop at the show on Thursday, cut through a foot lying block in 34 seconds[.] 6 Oct 1924, The Examiner, Launceston, page 2, column 6
8. (dated) A crack or cleft; a chap.

verb

1. (transitive) To cut into pieces with short, vigorous cutting motions.
   chop wood; chop an onion
2. (transitive) To sever with an axe or similar implement.
   Chop off his head.
3. (transitive) to give a downward cutting blow or movement, typically with the side of the hand.
4. (transitive, baseball) To hit the ball downward so that it takes a high bounce.
5. (poker) To divide the pot (or tournament prize) between two or more players.
6. (intransitive) To make a quick, heavy stroke or a series of strokes, with or as with an ax.
7. (intransitive) To do something suddenly with an unexpected motion; to catch or attempt to seize.
8. (intransitive) To interrupt; with in or out.
   This fellow […]interrupted the sermon, even suddenly chopping in. 1550, Hugh Latimer, Sermon Preached before King Edward
9. (transitive, Hong Kong) To stab.
   A man had chopped a Sanitary Department coolie to death after an argument about money, Supreme Court was told today. 1959-06-08, China Mail, page 10
10. (computing, transitive, Perl) To remove the final character from (a text string).
    Coordinate term: chomp

Etymology 2

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

verb

1. (obsolete) To exchange, to barter; to swap.
   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. 1644, John Milton, Areopagitica
2. To chap or crack.
3. (nautical) To vary or shift suddenly.
   The wind chops about.
4. (obsolete) To twist words.
5. To converse, discuss, or speak with another.

noun

1. A turn of fortune; change; a vicissitude.

Etymology 3

Perhaps a variant of chap (“jaw”). Compare also Middle English cheppe (“one side of the jaw, chap”).

noun

1. (chiefly in the plural) A jaw of an animal.
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

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.

noun

1. (colloquial, India, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei) 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.
2. (colloquial, by extension, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei) The device used for stamping or sealing, which also contains the design to be imprinted.
3. A mark indicating nature, quality, or brand.
   silk of the first chop
4. A license or passport that has been sealed.
5. A complete shipment.
   a chop of tea

verb

1. (transitive, colloquial, India, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei) 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.
2. To seal a license or passport.

Etymology 5

Shortening.

noun

1. (Internet) An IRC channel operator.
   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. 1996, Peter Ludlow, High Noon on the Electronic Frontier, page 404