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• chow chow
  chow chow

  noun

  one of a Chinese breed of medium-sized dogs having a thick black, blue, red, or cream coat and a blue-black tongue.
• chow-chow
  chow-chow

  noun

  a Chinese mixed fruit preserve.

chow chow

¹ American  

[chau chau] / ˈtʃaʊ ˌtʃaʊ /

noun

(often initial capital letters)

1. one of a Chinese breed of medium-sized dogs having a thick black, blue, red, or cream coat and a blue-black tongue.

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chow-chow ² American  

[chau-chau] / ˈtʃaʊˌtʃaʊ /

noun

1. a Chinese mixed fruit preserve.

2. a relish of chopped mixed pickles in mustard sauce.

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chow-chow British  

noun

1. Often shortened to: chow. a thick-coated breed of the spitz type of dog with a curled tail and a characteristic blue-black tongue; it came originally from China

2. a Chinese preserve of ginger, orange peel, etc in syrup

3. a mixed vegetable pickle

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Etymology

Origin of chow chow¹

1785–95; said to be < dialectal Chinese; compare Guangdong dial. gáu dog

Origin of chow-chow²

Borrowed into English from Chinese Pidgin English around 1785–95

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

chow chow chow-chow

Kathryn, on the other hand, is filling up her days with a part-time position at the local mall’s J.Crew outlet and taking care of eight chow chow puppies she’s named after Maroon 5 songs.

From Salon ● May 17, 2025

Both are also closely related to dingoes, and slightly more distantly to other dogs of East Asian origin like the chow chow, Akita, and shiba inu.

From Science Magazine ● Aug. 31, 2020

They are paired with green goddess dressing and glorious chow chow, a hot pickled vegetable relish with a preponderance of cauliflower.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 28, 2019

Expect eggplant katsudon with charred cabbage chow chow, sweetbread teriyaki, duck leg ramen, and an okonomiyaki pancake with shaved Benton’s ham, mayonnaise and smoked tobiko roe.

From New York Times ● Dec. 4, 2018

In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if they rethought the whole show once America swoons over Cha-Cha the chow chow.

From "Dog Squad" by Chris Grabenstein

It’s unlikely Thomas Heyward of South Carolina ever ate blackened shrimp, pimento cheese and green tomato chow-chow together, but guess what?

From Washington Post ● Jun. 16, 2016

Many of the girls put up more than five hundred quart cans of tomatoes from their plots, besides ketchup, pickles, chow-chow, preserves, and other products.

From The New Education A Review of Progressive Educational Movements of the Day (1915) by Scott Nearing

I am going to make some cabbage chow-chow and some chew-chew and some tomato pickles and I want to grind up all the things in the food chopper.

From Jacko and Jumpo Kinkytail The Funny Monkey Boys by Howard R. Garis

"Well, don't put any chow-chow mince-meat in your muffins," begged Bunny with a laugh.

From Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue in the Big Woods by Florence England Nosworthy

The little pewter tankard reposed proudly upon his mantel beside a bottle of chow-chow, and bore his name as the third winner of the trophy.

From The Half-Back by Ralph Henry Barbour

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