Chop

(66), v. t. [imp. & p. p. CHOPPED (chŏpt); p. pr. & vb. n. CHOPPING.] [L. Ger. & D. kappen, Dan. kappe, Sw. cappa, L. Lat. coppare, to cut, O. Fr. coper, copper, colper, N. Fr. couper, from colp, cop, coup, blow, from Lat. colaphus, Gr. κόλαφος, buffet. Cf. CHAP and CHIP.]

1Sense 1. To cut into pieces; to mince; — often with up.

2Sense 2. To sever or separate by one or more blows; to divide; — usually with off.

Chop off your hand, and send it to the king. Shak.

3Sense 3. To seize or devour greedily; — with up.

You are for chopping up your entertainment like a hungry clown. Dryden.

v. i. 1. To come upon or seize suddenly, as if at a stroke or blow; to strike.

Out of greediness to get both, he chops at the shadow, and loses the substance. L'Estrange.

2Sense 2. To cut off another's discourse by reply.

This fellow interrupted the sermon, even suddenly chopping in. Latimer.

3Sense 3. (Naut.) To vary or shift suddenly; as, the wind chops about. Totten.

v. t. [A-S. ceapan, O. Sax. cōpōn, Goth. kaupōn, to buy, to sell. Cf. CHAP, v. i., and CHEAPEN, v. t.] 1. To conduct a process of barter or exchange; to put one thing in the place of another; to exchange; as, to chop bargains. We go on chopping and changing our friends. L'Estrange. 2. To give back and forth; to bandy; as, to chop logic. Locke.

v. i. To wrangle; to altercate. Let not the counsel chop with the judge. Bacon.

v. t. & i. See CHAP.

n. [Chin.] 1. Quality; brand; as, silk of the first chop.

2Sense 2. A permit or clearance.

Chop of tea, a number of boxes of the same make and quality of leaf. — Grand chop, a ship’s port clearance. S. W. Williams.