chop
/t͡ʃɑp/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.77 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Ocean waves, generally caused by wind, distinguished from swell by being smaller and not lasting as long.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "I only like lamb chops with mint jelly."
- "Of the two fried chops served him for breakfast he ate one and gave Edmund the other, and put a buttered sandwich of bread in his pocket against the accidents of travel."
- "I was standing at the meat counter, waiting for some rib lamb chops to be cut."
- "It should take just one good chop to fell the sapling."
- "A karate chop."
- "With both players having an ace-high straight, the pot was a chop."
Etymology
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)”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: choppen, choppe, छाप, Чоп
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /t͡ʃɑp/
- British English: /t͡ʃɒp/