chomp
Americanverb (used with or without object)
verb
noun
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.
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
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
What does the bubble gum they chomp during “Too Pooped to Pop” give them?
From New York Times • Feb. 12, 2024
And feel totally comfortable slipping them on as I grade papers from my memoir students, blast Lil Durk from my portable speaker and take a massive chomp out of a piece of avocado toast.
From Salon • Nov. 28, 2023
Why, it didn’t matter what their dinner had died of, they could just chomp it down.
From "The Graveyard Book" by Neil Gaiman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
