champ
1 Americanverb (used with object)
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to bite upon or grind, especially impatiently.
The horses champed the oats.
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to crush with the teeth and chew vigorously or noisily; munch.
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to mash; crush.
verb (used without object)
noun
idioms
noun
verb
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to munch (food) noisily like a horse
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to bite (something) nervously or impatiently; gnaw
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informal to be impatient to start work, a journey, etc
noun
-
the act or noise of champing
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dialect a dish, originating in Ireland, of mashed potatoes and spring onions or leeks
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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champsimple
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champssimple
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have champedperfect
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has champedperfect
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am champingprogressive
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are champingprogressive
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is champingprogressive
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have been champingperfect progressive
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has been champingperfect progressive
Past
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champedsimple
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had champedperfect
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was champingprogressive
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were champingprogressive
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had been champingperfect progressive
Future
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.
Vocabulary lists containing champ
This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for June 19–June 25, 2021
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"Riddles in the Dark"
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And Then, Boom!
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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
Watch out, Arnold Schwarzenegger — there’s a new champ in the family.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 9, 2026
Value is by far the long-distance champ, though.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 9, 2026
Sticking only with the U.S. and just plucking a ticker symbol out of a hat would put the probability of picking the coming century’s champ at barely 0.02%.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 23, 2026
"See, that's the problem with you kids. Y'all don't know what a true champ is."
From "Ghost" by Jason Reynolds
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
