DEFINITIONS
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chow

1
[ chou ]
/ tʃaʊ /
Informal.
SEE 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.

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Words related to chow

feed, inhale, absorb, ingest, devour, guzzle, swallow, exhaust, ravage, gobble, destroy, eat, chew, dine, bite, nibble, attack, pick, mow, gulp

Words nearby chow

chouette, chough, choukoutien, chouse, choux pastry, chow, chow chow, chow down, chow mein, chow-chow, chowder

Origin of chow

1
1855–60, Americanism; short for chow-chow
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

British Dictionary definitions for chow down (1 of 2)

chow down

verb (intr, adverb foll by on)

informal to eat heartily

British Dictionary definitions for chow down (2 of 2)

chow
/ (tʃaʊ) /

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

Idioms and Phrases with chow down

chow down

Eat, as in He's always ready to chow down at dinner time. Originally military slang, this term is now more widely used. The noun chow in the sense of food, originating from either Chinese or pidgin English in the 18th century, also appears in such terms as chow line, a line of people waiting for food, and chow time, mealtime. [Slang; mid-1900s]

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.