chico

¹

[ chee-koh ]

noun

1. Informal. a boy or young man (often used as a nickname or form of address):

   Sorry, chico, but that’s not the killer argument you’d like to think it is!

   We hoped we looked like just a couple of laid-back chicos out for a stroll.

chico

²

[ chee-koh ]

noun

, plural chi·cos.

1. greasewood ( def 1 ).

Chico

³

[ chee-koh ]

noun

1. a city in central California.
2. a male given name.

chico

/ ˈtʃiːkəʊ /

noun

1. another name for greasewood

Word History and Origins

Origin of chico¹

First recorded in 1965–70; from Spanish: “boy,” of expressive origin, representing a common Romance stem found in words for small things; compare Latin ciccum “bagatelle, trifle, worthless object” ( chinchy ( def ) )

Origin of chico²

Short for chicalote ( def )

Example Sentences

Ross’s, like many other retail companies with female CEOs, like JCPenney, Kohl’s and Chico’s, faces strong headwinds at a time when people are shopping less at stores and more on the websites of male-run tech companies.

From Time

They turned the box around, opened the lid and out jumped Chico.

From Washington Post

Needless to say, they end up getting Harpo and Chico Marx to play on the team instead.

From The Daily Beast

Orlando “Chico” Morales was convicted of the crime 32 years ago, but the organization strongly believes he is innocent.

From The Daily Beast

Your final gambit has been the Chico Marx line—“Who you gonna believe, me or your own eyes”?

From The Daily Beast

Beaten out of a nomination by little-heard-of movies like A Cat in Paris and Chico Rita?

From The Daily Beast

Rodgers hails from Chico, Calif., an idyllic pristine town in Northern California about a three-hour drive from San Francisco.

From The Daily Beast

All his life he planted trees and built roads, and at his great Rancho Chico is one of the largest orchards in the state.

From Project Gutenberg

The remainder of the day we spent going down the left bank of the Chico, encountered again at Nanong.

From Project Gutenberg

In due course we came to an affluent of our old friend the Chico, and had to ford.

From Project Gutenberg

We dropped anchor under the lee of a little island in the Boco Chico, but our engines were throbbing again by break of day.

From Project Gutenberg

Chico had trouble with his teeth, and Sancho was in great distress about it.

From Project Gutenberg