chopper

[ chop-er ]

/ ˈtʃɒp ər /

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.

RELATED WORDS

molar, dicer, mincer, axe

Nearby words

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

Examples from the Web for 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|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST

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|DAILY BEAST
See how many traces from which we may learn the chopper's history!
Excursions and Poems|Henry David Thoreau
The woods of America for the first time rang to the chopper.
Canada: the Empire of the North|Agnes C. Laut
Mrs McNab threw down her chopper, and turned to wipe her hands on a roller towel.
Big Game|Mrs. George de Horne Vaizey
Yes, sir, when I was an apprentice: a man using a chopper cut off his hand.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 1, December 18, 1841|Various
Taking his chopper with him, he met a little Chamar girl, whom he took into a temple in Bahadurpur.
The Criminal|Havelock Ellis

British Dictionary definitions for chopper

chopper

/ (ˈtʃɒpə) /

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

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.

Science definitions for chopper

chopper

[ chŏp′ər ]

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