chopper

American  

[chop-er] / ˈtʃɒp ər /

noun

• choppers
  plural

1. a person or thing that chops.

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

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

4. Slang. choppers, the teeth.

5. Informal. a helicopter.

6. Slang. a motorcycle.

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

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verb (used without object)

1. Informal.

   1. to travel by helicopter.

      We choppered into midtown from the airport.

   2. to travel by motorcycle.

chopper British  

/ ˈtʃɒpə /

noun

1. a small hand axe

2. a butcher's cleaver

3. a person or thing that cuts or chops

4. an informal name for a helicopter

5. a slang name for penis

6. a device for periodically interrupting an electric current or beam of radiation to produce a pulsed current or beam See also vibrator

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

8. a child's bicycle

9. obsolete a sub-machine-gun

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chopper Scientific  

/ chŏp′ər /

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

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• choppers
  plural

Etymology

Origin of chopper

1545–55; 1950–55 chopper for def. 5; chop ¹ + -er ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

chopper choppers

Security cameras from several buildings in the area recorded the chopper as it descended quickly and struck a metal storage container.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026

NBC4 said the chopper was operated by Angel City Air.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026

As the chopper circled Miami, the cameraman explained the purpose of the shoot: “Everybody and their mama wants to know where he’s going to play ball next year.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 10, 2026

"Besides having a massively full tummy, he didn't move around or try to slip into the river despite the noise of the drones and the chopper," he told News24.

From BBC ● May 3, 2026

All told, five members of the Taiwanese team—two with severe frostbite and one already dead—were plucked from McKinley by chopper.

From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer

Safety is part of the reason so many choppers are flying so low, said Eli Flint, president of Flexjet’s helicopter division.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

It’s common for multiple news choppers to arrive at the scene of breaking news, beaming live images for newscasts and streaming.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026

"It rained all night, but we stayed put till the choppers came for us," he added.

From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026

Her mother-in-law once offered to spend $50,000 on her teeth but, like Queen Elizabeth II, she stuck with her OG choppers.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 17, 2026

We were in the choppers nearly ten minutes and still going.

From "Fallen Angels" by Walter Dean Myers