chomp
Americanverb (used with or without object)
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chomps,
present (3rd person singular)
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chomped,
past participle, past
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chomping
present participle
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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chompsimple
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chompssimple
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have chompedperfect
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has chompedperfect
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am chompingprogressive
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are chompingprogressive
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is chompingprogressive
-
have been chompingperfect progressive
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has been chompingperfect progressive
Past
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chompedsimple
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had chompedperfect
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was chompingprogressive
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were chompingprogressive
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had been chompingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of chomp
variant of champ 1
Explanation
To chomp is to bite something in a greedy, noisy way. If you've got five minutes to eat breakfast, you might quickly chomp your bagel as you walk to catch the bus. People who chomp their food are either extremely hungry or somewhat ill-mannered: watching someone chomp a hamburger and fries can make you lose your appetite. You can also use chomp as a noun, to mean "a great big bite," as when your brother grabs your slice of pizza and takes a chomp. The word has been used in American English since the mid-1600s, from the earlier verb champ.
Vocabulary lists containing chomp
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.
See Examples For:
Australia's oceans are teeming with sharks, with great whites topping the list of species that might fatally chomp a human.
From Barron's ● Nov. 26, 2025
If the girl was able to chomp down on her desired apple on the first try, that signified that she was destined to be with her sweetheart.
From Salon ● Oct. 21, 2025
A single breeding pair of sunflower stars can potentially produce thousands of offspring — many mouths to chomp down on urchins.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 11, 2025
They can consume up to 11kg of insects a year, and just one can chomp as many as 50 bees a day.
From BBC ● Jun. 4, 2024
Everything was too bright, and the only thing I wanted was to chomp on greasy food before going back to bed.
From "Dumplin'" by Julie Murphy
Tampopo grows its arugula under insect netting to fight the Northwest flea beetle that otherwise chomps on the leaves.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 23, 2024
Sumi chomps on the meat approvingly, trying her best to avoid the kibble.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 21, 2022
“Shut up!” the queen barks at Kate, and proceeds to grill her while a menacing, Cockney-bruiser Philip chomps on a toothpick and plays with the future princess’s hair.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 20, 2022
The Wolf Pack didn’t just nibble away at Cincinnati’s lead; they took loud, impolite chomps that could wake Emily Post from the grave.
From Slate ● Mar. 18, 2018
A giant panda in the Wolong Nature Reserve chomps on bamboo.
From "Camp Panda" by Catherine Thimmesh
At one point father and baby ate grass together, the big grass fronds flickering around their heads as they chomped.
From Slate ● May 27, 2026
Sean Lowe, who was attacked last week by his rescue boxer Moose, had to rehome another rescue dog a few years ago after it chomped on one of his children.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 19, 2025
The young meat-eater had chomped off the hind legs of two parrot-like dinosaurs called caenagnathids before perishing itself.
From National Geographic ● Dec. 8, 2023
He chomped that bit with an all-action showing, but the lack of knockout power which has only seen him stop eight opponents in 32 fights was on show again here.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2023
Because the problem is that real life isn’t like a story—I’m not in charge, and it’s usually the good guys who get chomped.
From "The Benefits of Being an Octopus" by Ann Braden
In the 1980s, the most iconic look in the National Football League belonged to a cigar chomping man in a Chicago Bears sweater vest named Mike Ditka.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
The mechanical chomping shark in “Jaws,” which was filmed on the Vineyard in 1975, invariably gets a mention.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2026
He got his start by creating beats for stars including Jay-Z and Alicia Keys, before chomping up the charts in his own right.
From BBC ● Apr. 7, 2026
Tom Curtis has gone viral by recording a video of himself chomping on a Whopper and even posting his phone number online.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 9, 2026
She’d been chomping on hers ever since we started to climb the mountain on this curving stretch of road.
From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez
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