chap
1 Americanverb (used with object)
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to crack, roughen, and redden (the skin).
The windy, cold weather chapped her lips.
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to cause (the ground, wood, etc.) to split, crack, or open in clefts.
The summer heat and drought chapped the riverbank.
verb (used without object)
noun
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a fissure or crack, especially in the skin.
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Scot. a knock; rap.
noun
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Chiefly British Informal: Older Use. a fellow; man or boy.
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Chiefly Midland and Southern U.S. a baby or young child.
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British Dialect. a customer.
noun
abbreviation
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Chaplain.
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chapter.
verb
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(of the skin) to make or become raw and cracked, esp by exposure to cold
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(of a clock) to strike (the hour)
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to knock (at a door, window, etc)
noun
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(usually plural) a cracked or sore patch on the skin caused by chapping
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a knock
abbreviation
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chaplain
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chapter
noun
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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has chappedperfect 3rd person singular
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have chappedperfect
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am chappingprogressive 1st person singular
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is chappingprogressive 3rd person singular
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have been chappingperfect progressive
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has been chappingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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chappingparticiple
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chapssingular 3rd person
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are chappingprogressive
Past
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had chappedperfect
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had been chappingperfect progressive
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was chappingprogressive singular
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were chappingprogressive plural
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chappedsimple
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chappedparticiple
Future
Etymology
Origin of chap1
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English chappen “(of a fruit) to split open, burst; (of skin) to crack, chap”; cognate with Dutch kappen “to cut”; akin to chip 1
Origin of chap2
First recorded in 1570–80; short for chapman
Origin of chap3
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English chop, chappe “jaw, jawbone”; perhaps special use of chap 1
Explanation
A chap is a guy or a fellow — a boy or man who's a friend, acquaintance, or a friendly stranger. You might ask a chap on the bus if the seat beside him is free. You can refer to any male person as a chap, and you can also address him that way: "Hello there, old chap! I haven't seen you in ages!" It's more common in Britain than the US, where the chap will know what you mean but might look at you oddly. Chaps also means a cowboy's leather pants, and when it's a verb chap means to become dry, cracked, and painful from wind or cold.
Vocabulary lists containing chap
"Rikki-Tikki-Tavi" by Rudyard Kipling
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Excerpt from "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer"
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Long Way Down
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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.
The state claims partial ownership, through easements, of three of the four sites, according to Eric Holcomb, division chief of the Commission for Historical and Architectural Planning, or CHAP, a city agency.
From Washington Post • Mar. 30, 2021
Taxes which, it is intended, should fall indifferently upon every different Species of Revenue 366 Capitation Taxes 367 Taxes upon consumable Commodities 368 CHAP.
From An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Garnier, Germain
X. 1 to 4 190 5 to 11 191 12 to 19 192 20 to 24 193 25 to 31 194 32 to 37 195 38 to 42 196 CHAP.
From Walks and Words of Jesus A Paragraph Harmony of the Four Evangelists by Olmsted, M. N.
Of the Discouragement of Agriculture in the ancient States of Europe, after the fall of the Roman Empire 157 CHAP.
From An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Garnier, Germain
I. Account of Captain Cook previous to his first Voyage round the World CHAP.
From Narrative of the Voyages Round the World, Performed by Captain James Cook : with an Account of His Life During the Previous and Intervening Periods by Kippis, Andrew
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.