Synonyms

chaps

American

[chaps, shaps] / tʃæps, ʃæps /

noun

(used with a plural verb)

a pair of joined leather leggings, often widely flared, worn over trousers, especially by cowboys, as protection against burs, rope burns, etc., while on horseback.

chaps British

/ tʃæps, ʃæps /

plural noun

Also called: chaparejos. chaparajos. leather overalls without a seat, worn by cowboys

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of chaps

1810–20, short for chaparajos

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.

At the Brandlesholme Community Center and Food Bank, close to Chaps Barbers, its chairwoman, Jo Warburton, sums up the situation locally in a word: “diabolical.”

From New York Times • May 5, 2022

There are now more than 400 Chap Chaps, which means “faster” in Kiswahili, on the roads in the capital of Kenya, Uber’s second-largest market in sub-Saharan Africa.

From Reuters • Aug. 17, 2018

“They can’t go anywhere without someone saying, ‘Hey Chaps, got a sec?’

From Washington Post • May 29, 2016

There are 'load' fees and 'non-sterling transaction charges' for using your card abroad, as well as fees for Chaps, Swift, Target and Sepa payments.

From BBC • Mar. 2, 2016

"A friend of my brother's came home that way from Mons. It seemed like a hell of a joke. Chaps never know anything, do they?"

From "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023