champ

¹ American  

[champ, chomp] / tʃæmp, tʃɒmp /

verb (used with object)

• champs,
  present (3rd person singular)
• champed,
  past participle,  past
• champing
  present participle

1. to bite upon or grind, especially impatiently.

   The horses champed the oats.

2. to crush with the teeth and chew vigorously or noisily; munch.

3. to mash; crush.

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verb (used without object)

• champs,
  present (3rd person singular)
• champed,
  past participle,  past
• champing
  present participle

1. to make vigorous chewing or biting movements with the jaws and teeth.

noun

1. the act of champing.

idioms

1. champ at the bit, to betray impatience, as to begin some action.

champ ² American  

[champ] / tʃæmp /

noun

Informal.

1. a champion.

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champ ¹ British  

/ tʃæmp /

verb

1. to munch (food) noisily like a horse

2. to bite (something) nervously or impatiently; gnaw

3. informal to be impatient to start work, a journey, etc

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noun

1. the act or noise of champing

2. dialect a dish, originating in Ireland, of mashed potatoes and spring onions or leeks

champ ² British  

/ tʃæmp /

noun

1. informal short for champion

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champ More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing champ

• like a champ

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• champer
  noun
• champy
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• champing
  present
• champed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• champ
  simple
• champs
  simple
• have champed
  perfect
• has champed
  perfect
• am champing
  progressive
• are champing
  progressive
• is champing
  progressive
• have been champing
  perfect progressive
• has been champing
  perfect progressive

Past

• champed
  simple
• had champed
  perfect
• was champing
  progressive
• were champing
  progressive
• had been champing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will champ
  simple
• will have champed
  perfect
• will be champing
  progressive
• will have been champing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of champ¹

1520–30; perhaps akin to chap ¹; see chop ¹

Origin of champ²

By shortening

Explanation

A champ is someone who wins a contest or a prize. The winner of an elementary school fifty-yard dash is a champ. Champ is shorthand for champion — in other words, a winner or a victor. You might describe your favorite football team as a bunch of champs after they win the World Series. Another way to use the word champ is as a verb meaning "chomp," especially the way a horse bites nervously or eagerly at its bit. The original meaning of champ is "chew noisily," and the biting horse definition came next, in the 1600's.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

champ champs champed champing

“Avery Truesdale was a gifted baseball player who hit the walk off run for conference champ Arcadia in Logan’s freshman year,” she wrote.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026

The U.S. national champ Quinn Simmons looks ready to win a stage and a mustache contest.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026

Some have interpreted this as the defining moment when A.I. surpassed human prowess in math, akin to the moment in 1997 when IBM’s Deep Blue took down chess champ Garry Kasparov.

From Slate ● Jun. 22, 2026

Look out LeBron James and Michael Jordan, there's a new basketball champ around.

From BBC ● May 27, 2026

The only champ in my life is usually Anthony.

From "Better Nate Than Ever" by Tim Federle

The only other times they reached the Edison final was in 2015 when they won the Division 1 title and 2008 when they were undefeated state champs.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2026

"Excitement, fatigue - everything. But this is the best moment of the season. We are still champs, two in a row, it's amazing."

From BBC ● May 30, 2026

The defending Olympic champs from up north had never taken a bagel in the Games before.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 13, 2026

Red and green cabbage deserve more love here; they stay crisp, add color and hold onto dressing like champs.

From Salon ● Dec. 16, 2025

Big Creek kept winning, and the people in charge of high-school football up in Charleston kept saying it didn’t matter—there was no way we were going to be state champs.

From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam

The vampirelike lamprey, sneaking into the Great Lakes in the 19th century, gradually champed its way through the fish population.

From New York Times ● Feb. 29, 2016

Gung-ho Lehman bankers champed at Japanese conservatism and bureaucracy, while Nomura veterans chafed at how much Lehman staff were paid.

From Reuters ● Jul. 24, 2015

Now,' on his red leather bench, Winston Churchill champed, shuffled a handful of notes, twice rose in a false start before the Speaker gave him the sign.

From Time Magazine Archive

As jittery contestants champed at the bit, U. S. tennis fans mused over nine days of the dullest top-flight tennis since women played in ankle-length flannel skirts and panama hats.

From Time Magazine Archive

There came a low word of command "Halt!" then a moment of horsey noises—nostrils blowing, hoofs pawing, bits being champed, necks being patted.

From "The Horse and His Boy" by C.S. Lewis

We know that many states are already champing at the bit to do that.

From Slate ● Apr. 30, 2026

“We’re champing at the bit to get the data,” one FAA official in Washington said at the time, as days stretched on after the crash without a black-box readout.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 28, 2025

If you started the movie at the end, you wouldn’t be champing to find out what happens next.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2025

They are champing at the bit to memorialize him, but Fife’s motives in agreeing are not purely about the film.

From New York Times ● Dec. 5, 2024

He was champing at the bit to get out there and start hiking.”

From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer

Related Words

• chomp