chow

¹

[chou]Informal.

See more synonyms for chow on Thesaurus.com

noun

food, especially hearty dishes or a meal.

Verb Phrases

chow down, to eat; eat a meal, especially the main meal of the day: In the army we usually chow down at 6 p.m.

Origin of chow

¹

1855–60, Americanism; short for chow-chow

chow

²

[chou]

noun (often initial capital letter)

chow chow.

Origin of chow

²

short form

Chow

¹

[chou; Chinese joh]

noun

Chou.

Chow

²

[chou]

noun Australian Disparaging and Offensive.

a contemptuous term used to refer to a Chinese person.

Origin of Chow

²

First recorded in 1870–75; special use of chow¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for chow

mess, meal, eats, grub, victuals

Examples from the Web for chow

Contemporary Examples of chow

I minimize time in crowds and chow halls and take meals to go more often than not.
Dodging Rockets in Afghanistan as the Taliban’s Fighting Season Begins
Nick Willard
May 14, 2014
They might, at least, let us chow down on a few Big Macs from time to time without putting on the pounds.
These Diet Lessons From Olympians Will Help You Lose Weight and Look Awesome
Jenna A. Bell
February 15, 2014
I love fried rice (Yeah)/ I love noodles (Yeah)/ I love Chow Mein/ Chow Mo-Mo-Mo-Mo Mein.
The Most Offensive Lyrics and WTF Moments From ‘Chinese Food’
Culture Team
October 15, 2013
The 44-year-old stars in Jason Wu's fall 2013 campaign, photographed at legendary New York restaurant Mr. Chow.
Anna Wintour's First Tweet Is About DOMA; Wendy Davis's Red Filibuster Sneakers
The Fashion Beast Team
June 27, 2013
What better way to juice up than to chow down on some of that blood dripping off the just-dead animal hanging outside your hut?
‘Dark Shadows’ Returns: A User’s Guide to Drinking Blood
Kent Sepkowitz
May 11, 2012

Historical Examples of chow

He yelled from the bridge down at the deck, "Aren't we going to have any chow this evening at all?"
End of the Tether
Joseph Conrad
"Forget it for now, Wade, and get that chow on," suggested Fuller.
Islands of Space
John W Campbell
"Any time and place you like, if you've got the chow with you," replied the trainman.
Uncle Sam's Boys in the Ranks
H. Irving Hancock
"I'm going to watch my chow (food) after this," insisted Green.
Uncle Sam's Boys in the Philippines
H. Irving Hancock
Soldiers would not be soldiers if they did not complain of their "chow."
Woodrow Wilson and the World War
Charles Seymour

British Dictionary definitions for chow

chow

noun

informal food
short for chow-chow (def. 1)

See also chow down

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 chow

n.

"food," 1856, American English (originally in California), from Chinese pidgin English chow-chow (1795) "food," reduplication of Chinese cha or tsa "mixed." The dog breed of the same name is from 1886, of unknown origin, but some suggest a link to the Chinese tendency to see dogs as edible.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper