chow
1 Americannoun
verb phrase
noun
noun
noun
-
informal food
-
short for chow-chow
Etymology
Origin of chow1
1855–60, short for chow-chow
Origin of chow2
Short form
Origin of Chow3
First recorded in 1870–75; special use of spelling variant ( Chow ) of Chou ( def. )
Explanation
Chow is food. You might offer to make your little sister her favorite chow for her birthday: macaroni and cheese with chocolate cake for dessert. The word chow is an informal way to say "food" or "meal." Someone happily gobbling tacos might say, "I just love Mexican chow," or your dad might open up a pizza delivery box and yell, "Time for chow, everybody!" Chow is an American English word that originated in California around 1856, from the Chinese pidgin English chow-chow, "food," which probably originated with the Chinese cha, "mixed."
Vocabulary lists containing chow
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.
The researchers examined whether mice preferred foods like wheat, bread, and rice over standard chow, and how these choices affected body weight and energy use.
From Science Daily • Apr. 14, 2026
To tell that complicated story, Hethington depends on dishes like Guyanese chow mein and Trini-Chinese chicken.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 30, 2026
For restaurateur Will Guidara’s wife, chef and cookbook author Christina Tosi, Meghan packs her homemade reindeer chow in a tall jar adorned with a festive bow.
From Salon • Dec. 15, 2025
At some prisons, meals are shared in the chow hall.
From Los Angeles Times • May 1, 2025
Inmates would carry bread back from chow, stuff it into the chain-link fence along the gallery, and watch from their cells as the birds came to feed.
From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover
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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.