Synonyms

chow down

British

verb

informal to eat heartily

"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

chow down Idioms

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]

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.

Perhaps the most popular place to chow down is Tracy’s Crab Shack in Juneau.

From Salon • Jul. 20, 2025

You could chow down at a taco truck or learn to draw Japanese calligraphy.

From Slate • Oct. 21, 2024

Because fish don’t hear very well, they’re free to chatter as they chow down.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 29, 2024

Condors can get lead poisoning if they chow down on animals shot by hunters using lead bullets.

From Science Magazine • May 2, 2023

Time to chow down and see what the good commander brought along for music.

From "The Martian" by Andy Weir

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023