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• chow
  chow

  noun

  food, especially hearty dishes or a meal.
• Chow
  Chow

  noun

  a contemptuous term used to refer to a Chinese person.

chow

¹ American  

[chou] / tʃaʊ /

noun

1. food, especially hearty dishes or a meal.

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verb phrase

1. 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.

chow ² American  

[chou] / tʃaʊ /

noun

(often initial capital letter)

1. chow chow.

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Chow ³ American  

[chou] / tʃaʊ /

noun

Australian Disparaging and Offensive.

1. a contemptuous term used to refer to a Chinese person.

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chow British  

/ tʃaʊ /

noun

1. informal food

2. short for chow-chow

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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."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

chow Chow

That’s because they generally chow down on decaying fruit.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026

When the animals could freely choose between standard chow and soybean oil, the OPA1-deficient mice consumed more fat and gained additional weight.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 13, 2026

Artificial intelligence may have already taken a bite out of software this year, but a profit warning from IBM indicates that it’s hardware’s turn to chow down.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026

Over in the canteen, Syrian and African musicians chow down with Posdnuos from De La Soul and sitar legend Anoushka Shankar.

From BBC ● Jun. 21, 2026

Then we ate chow and played checkers in the afternoon.

From "Fallen Angels" by Walter Dean Myers

“This raises more uncertainties” for companies looking to invest in Venezuela, said Ed Chow, a former Chevron executive and nonresident senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026

Lee and Chow were charged with subversion crimes in 2021 and have been behind bars since, under a Beijing-imposed national security law.

From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026

Lee Cheuk-yan, 69, and Chow Hang-tung, 41, face a maximum penalty of 10 years in jail after being convicted under the China-introduced law.

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026

“I want to do it now while I’m still able,” says Chow, adding that she is fortunate to be able to afford such trips.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026

Supporters were emerging on both sides, and by Saturday afternoon, a local lawyer, Ed Lim, had offered to represent Bebe Chow, gratis, and sue the state for custody of her daughter.

From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng