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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, 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 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 ² British  

/ ˈtʃɪlɪ /

noun

1. a variant spelling of chilli

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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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Discover More

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

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Etymology

Origin of chile¹

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

Origin of chile²

First recorded in 1860–65

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

chile Chile

We stop at a popular shop, newly under a roof, for cheung fen, rice-flour rolls dressed in sesame, soy, and chile, and eat standing up, like before.

From Salon ● Aug. 9, 2026

When former taco stand El Ruso opened its flagship in Studio City last month, burritos wrapped in 18-inch Sonoran flour tortillas and stuffed with rib-eye or chile Colorado were priced at $20 each.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2026

Chasing green chile cheeseburgers through New Mexico is sport for food obsessives.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 12, 2026

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

From Salon ● Apr. 3, 2026

No chile rojo to hide the dirty tripe.

From "I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter" by Erika L. Sánchez

Chile, which is responsible for nearly a quarter of global copper output, saw production fall to its lowest level in 15 years in August due to storms and operational problems.

From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2026

That broke a record teammate Mathias Albert, also 17, had set less than a week earlier against Chile.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026

Chihon, from Chile, and Anna Maria, from Moldova, came to Scotland to study, but the country quickly became the backdrop to their love story.

From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026

Meanwhile, “the global mine supply backdrop has never looked so challenged,” analysts at BMO Capital Markets wrote this week, in part because of weather-related disruption in Chile, the top producer.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026

Sargo was also working to overthrow the governments of Bolivia, Paraguay, Chile, and Brazil, so that pro-Nazi leaders could be installed across South America.

From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield

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