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chitlings

[chit-linz, -lingz]
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noun
  1. chitterlings.
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Also chit·lins [chit-linz] /ˈtʃɪt lɪnz/.

chitterlings

or chit·lings

[chit-linz, -lingz]
noun (used with a singular or plural verb)
  1. the small intestine of swine, especially when prepared as food.
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Also chit·lins [chit-linz] /ˈtʃɪt lɪnz/.

Origin of chitterlings

1250–1300; Middle English cheterling; akin to German Kutteln in same sense
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

heartmarrowstomachtonguetripebrainschitlinschitterlingsgibletsgizzardkidneysliverpancreassweetbreadtestisthymus

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Historical Examples

British Dictionary definitions for chitlins

chitterlings

chitlins (ˈtʃɪtlɪnz) or chitlings (ˈtʃɪtlɪŋz)

pl n
  1. (sometimes singular) the intestines of a pig or other animal prepared as a dish
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Word Origin

C13: of uncertain origin; perhaps related to Middle High German kutel
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

Word Origin and History for chitlins

chitterlings

n.

late 13c., cheterlingis "entrails, souse" (early 13c. in surnames), origins obscure, but probably from an unrecorded Old English word having something to do with entrails (related to Old English cwið "womb;" cf. German Kutteln "guts, bowels, tripe, chitterlings," Gothic qiþus "womb"). Variants chitlins (1842) and chitlings (1880) both also had a sense of "shreds, tatters."

"While I was in this way rollin' in clover, by picturin' what was to be, they wur tarin' my character all to chitlins up at home." [John S. Robb, "Streaks of Squatter Life," Philadelphia, 1843]
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper