# chop

> English word · Noun · IPA /t͡ʃɒp/ · frequency rank #10,009

## Definitions
1. A cut of meat, often containing a section of a rib.
2. A blow with an axe, cleaver, or similar implement.
3. A blow delivered with the hand rigid and outstretched.
4. Ocean waves, generally caused by wind, distinguished from swell by being smaller and not lasting as long.
5. A hand where two or more players have an equal-valued hand, resulting in the chips being shared equally between them.
6. Termination, especially from employment; the sack.
7. A woodchopping competition.
8. A crack or cleft; a chap.
9. Aircraft turbulence.
10. Cocaine.
11. A knife, especially one used as a weapon.

## Etymology
From Middle English choppen, chappen (“to chop”), of uncertain origin, possibly onomatopoeic, 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.

## Easily confused with
- **co** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chop-vs-co)
- **cp** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chop-vs-cp)
- **cup** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chop-vs-cup)
- **cop** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chop-vs-cop)
- **con** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chop-vs-con)
- **cow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chop-vs-cow)
- **cos** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chop-vs-cos)
- **col** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chop-vs-col)
- **cox** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chop-vs-cox)
- **cod** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chop-vs-cod)
- **chu** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chop-vs-chu)
- **cor** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chop-vs-cor)
- **coo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chop-vs-coo)
- **cot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chop-vs-cot)
- **Coe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chop-vs-coe)
- **coz** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chop-vs-coz)
- **coa** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chop-vs-coa)
- **coy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chop-vs-coy)
- **cob** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chop-vs-cob)
- **cog** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chop-vs-cog)

## Common misspellings (6)
`cchop`, `chhop`, `chopp`, `chpo`, `cohp`, `hcop`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/chop