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• chile
  chile

  noun

  the pod of any of several species of Capsicum, especially C. annuum longum: used in cooking for its pungent flavor.
• Chile
  Chile

  noun

  a republic in southwestern South America, on the Pacific Coast. 286,396 square miles (741,765 square kilometers). Santiago.

chile

¹ American  

[chil-ee] / ˈtʃɪl i /

noun

1. Also called chile pepper,.  Also called chili pepper.  the pod of any of several species of Capsicum, especially C. annuum longum: used in cooking for its pungent flavor.

2. chili.

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chile ² American  

[chahyl] / tʃaɪl /

noun

1. a phonetic spelling of child, representing dialectal speech of the Southern United States or African American Vernacular English.

   Oh, chile, you do not want to test me!

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Chile ³ American  

[chil-ee, chee-le] / ˈtʃɪl i, ˈtʃi lɛ /

noun

1. a republic in southwestern South America, on the Pacific Coast. 286,396 square miles (741,765 square kilometers). Santiago.

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chile ¹ British  

/ ˈtʃɪlɪ /

noun

1. a variant spelling of chilli

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Chile ² British  

/ ˈtʃɪlɪ /

noun

1. a republic in South America, on the Pacific, with a total length of about 4090 km (2650 miles) and an average width of only 177 km (110 miles): gained independence from Spain in 1818; the government of President Allende (elected 1970) attempted the implementation of Marxist policies within a democratic system until overthrown by a military coup (1973); democracy restored 1988. Chile consists chiefly of the Andes in the east, the Atacama Desert in the north, a central fertile region, and a huge S region of almost uninhabitable mountains, glaciers, fjords, and islands; an important producer of copper, iron ore, nitrates, etc. Language: Spanish. Religion: Roman Catholic majority. Currency: peso. Capital: Santiago. Pop: 17 216 945 (2013 est). Area: 756 945 sq km (292 256 sq miles)

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Chile Cultural  

1. Republic in southern South America on the western slope of the Andes. Chile is a long, narrow strip of land bordered by Peru to the north, Bolivia and Argentina to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the south and west. Its capital and largest city is Santiago.

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Pinochet suppressed human rights and political activity until he lost a plebiscite in 1988. A successor was chosen in free elections. In 1998, Pinochet was arrested in Great Britain on a Spanish warrant, but a court ruled him too ill to stand trial. He returned to Chile, where attempts to prosecute him continued.

In 1973, General Augusto Pinochet led a coup that overthrew President Salvador Allende, a Marxist.

Other Word Forms

• Chilean
  adjective
• pseudo-Chilean
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of chile¹

First recorded in 1855–60; variant spelling of chili ( def. )

Origin of chile²

First recorded in 1860–65

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

chile Chile

Is this the best green chile cheeseburger in Albuquerque?

From Los Angeles Times ● May 12, 2026

Next door at El Ruso, owner Walter Soto chopped carne asada while his wife, Julia, took orders: two chile colorado; three birria; no onions, please.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 28, 2026

Aromatics are sizzled — onion, garlic, ginger — followed by tomato and warming spices, including cinnamon and smoked chile.

From Salon ● Apr. 3, 2026

In “Everything I Want to Eat,” Jessica Koslow, of Sqirl, offers a chickpea stew with chard, poached eggs and smoked chile.

From Salon ● Apr. 3, 2026

“Now you, chile, could run off and fit right in. You could leave Myna and my Tidbit here and have you a chance to be free.”

From "Copper Sun" by Sharon M. Draper

Though unable to fly to Chile for the eclipse in 2019, I made it to Buffalo, N.Y., in 2024 and then to León.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026

Following its 2022 acquisition of the note-taking app Evernote, the company implemented sharp subscription price increases alongside layoffs in the US and Chile.

From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026

Finning’s services to lithium miners in Bolivia and copper miners in Chile and Argentina give it “a very significant opportunity for profits,” with those materials in such high demand during the AI build-out, Robotti said.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026

Ryan Milligan, a solar physicist at Queen's University Belfast in Northern Ireland, has travelled for 12 different eclipses, to places as far-ranging as Siberia, Chile and the Faroe Islands.

From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026

Agriculture reached down into Argentina and central Chile.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann