chopper

[chop-er]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR chopper ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a person or thing that chops.

a short ax with a large blade, used for cutting up meat, fish, etc.; butcher's cleaver.

a prehistoric implement made by striking flakes off one or both sides of a stone, considered the oldest known worked stone tool.

choppers, Slang. the teeth.

Informal. a helicopter.

Slang. a motorcycle.

a device for interrupting an electric current or a beam of light at regular intervals.

verb (used without object)

Informal.

to travel by helicopter: We choppered into midtown from the airport.
to travel by motorcycle.

Origin of chopper

1545–55; 1950–55 for def 5; chop¹ + -er¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for chopper

molar, dicer, mincer, axe

Examples from the Web for chopper

Contemporary Examples of chopper

In 1988 he was jailed for seven months when police in Jersey found half an ounce of cocaine on board his chopper.
The Secrets of Britain’s Wildest Aristocrats
Tom Sykes
October 20, 2014
When it falls unconscious, a ground crew drags the beast—which can weigh up to 5,000 lbs—into a net strapped to the chopper.
South Africa’s Great Rhino Airlift
Nina Strochlic
August 17, 2014
But when Fallon spends too much time on the Vitamix, Arnold demands that he “get to the chopper!”
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Cartoon Theme Songs and More Viral Videos
The Daily Beast Video
March 29, 2014
After the chopper went down, McKnight was redirected to the crash site where much of the fighting force was pinned down.
Black Hawk Down’s Long Shadow
Daniel Klaidman
October 9, 2013
Guests were convinced that the chopper was coming to collect William as Kate was going into labor.
Street Parties, Helicopters, and Gun Salutes: How the Royal Birth Will Unfold
Tom Sykes
June 25, 2013

Historical Examples of chopper

This was a chopper very popular in the camp, and known by the name of Jabe.
Earth's Enigmas
Charles G. D. Roberts
The woods of America for the first time rang to the chopper.
Canada: the Empire of the North
Agnes C. Laut
The chopper seized one of the spears, and rushed after the old one.
Four Young Explorers
Oliver Optic
Here comes a candle to light you to bed,And here comes a chopper to chop off your head.
Harry's Ladder to Learning
Anonymous
It must have broken his heart to know that his lovely ship was getting the chopper.
Accidental Death
Peter Baily

British Dictionary definitions for chopper

chopper

noun

mainly British a small hand axe

a butcher's cleaver

a person or thing that cuts or chops

an informal name for a helicopter

mainly British a slang name for penis

a device for periodically interrupting an electric current or beam of radiation to produce a pulsed current or beamSee also vibrator (def. 2)

a type of bicycle or motorcycle with very high handlebars and an elongated saddle

NZ a child's bicycle

obsolete, slang, mainly US a sub-machine-gun

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 chopper

1550s, "one who chops," agent noun from chop (v.1). Meaning "meat cleaver" is by 1818. Meaning "helicopter" is from 1951, Korean War military slang (cf. egg-beater); as a type of stripped-down motorcycle (originally prefered by Hell's Angels) from 1965.

chopper in Science

chopper

[chŏp′ər]

A crudely flaked, unifacial core tool, especially one associated with the Oldowan stone culture of the early Paleolithic Period.