Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

chow mein

/ˌtʃaʊ ˈmeɪn/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: 3.05 in modern English

Syllables: chow mein
IPA: /ˌtʃaʊ ˈmeɪn/

18

Scrabble Score

8

Letters

1

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A westernized Chinese dish of stir-fried noodles with vegetables and meat or seafood.

Countable; Uncountable

noun

A person from Northeast India.

Indian usage; Countable; Offensive; Slang

Example Sentences

"I saw a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand Walking through the streets of Soho in the rain He was looking for the place called Lee Ho Fook's Gonna get a big dish of beef chow mein."
"Our tasty grooves are better than a chicken chow mein!"
"Without access to key ingredients from their homeland, Chinese immigrants in the United States working on the Central Pacific Railroad in the 1860s improvised dishes like chow mein and chop suey that nobody back in their native land would have recognized."
"Since I come from the North-eastern part of India myself and belong to a minority race, I too have suffered from racism, at least in its milder forms. I’ve been called "chinky", "momo", "chowmein", and more."

Etymology

Borrowed from Taishanese 炒麵／炒面 (cau² men⁵, “stir-fry noodles”).

Usage

Subject

Wiktionary places this term in Food.

Inflected Forms

chow meins (plural) chaomian (alternative) chau min (alternative)

Derived Forms

chowmeinery

Phrases

chow mein bun

Frequently Paired Words

lo mein

Questions

How do you pronounce chow mein?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˌtʃaʊ ˈmeɪn/.
What does chow mein mean?: A westernized Chinese dish of stir-fried noodles with vegetables and meat or seafood.
Where does chow mein come from?: Borrowed from Taishanese 炒麵／炒面 (cau² men⁵, “stir-fry noodles”).

How to pronounce chow mein

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Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˌtʃaʊ ˈmeɪn/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
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