- [countable] a thick slice of meat with a bone attached to it, especially from a pig or sheep
- a pork/lamb chop
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- lamb
- mutton
- pork
- …
- eat
- have
- braise
- …
Definitions on the go
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- [countable, usually singular] an act of cutting something in a quick movement downwards using an axe or a knife
- Give the mushrooms a quick chop before adding them to the pan.
- [countable] an act of hitting somebody/something with the side of your hand in a quick movement downwards
- a karate chop
- chops[plural] (informal) the part of a person’s or an animal’s face around the mouth
- The dog sat licking its chops.
- chops[plural] the technical skill of an actor or a jazz or rock musician
- He has the acting chops to carry a major film.
Word Originnoun senses 1 to 3 late Middle English: variant of chap.
Idioms
See chop in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionarybe for the chop (British English, informal)
- (of a person) to be likely to be dismissed from a job
- Who's next for the chop?
- (of a plan, project, etc.) to be likely to be stopped or ended
bust your chops/butt/hump (doing something/to do something) (North American English, informal)
(also bust a gut British and North American English, informal, bust your ass North American English, offensive, slang)
- to make a great effort to do something
- I busted my chops to get into law school.
- These guys were busting their butts on the field, trying to excel at athletics.
- It’s a problem which nobody is going to bust a gut trying to solve.
bust somebody's chops
- (North American English, informal) to criticize somebody
- Your blog is great but I have to bust your chops a little over this post.
bust a gut (doing something/to do something) (informal)
(also North American English, informal bust your butt/chops/hump, North American English, offensive, slang bust your ass)
- to make a great effort to do something
- It’s a problem which nobody is going to bust a gut trying to solve.
- I busted my chops to get into law school.
- These guys were busting their butts on the field, trying to excel at athletics.
get/be given the chop (British English, informal)
- (of a person) to be dismissed from a job
- The whole department has been given the chop.
- (of a plan, project, etc.) to be stopped or ended
- Three more schemes have got the chop.
not much chop
- (Australian English, New Zealand English, informal) not very good or useful
Check pronunciation:
chop