chow

¹

[chou]

noun

1. food, especially hearty dishes or a meal.

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

[chou]

noun

(often initial capital letter)

1. chow chow.

Chow

³

[chou]

noun

Australian Disparaging and Offensive.

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

chow

/ tʃaʊ /

noun

1. informal,  food

2. short for chow-chow

Word History and Origins

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. )

Example Sentences

To investigate, the team studied adult male rats fed either a standard chow diet or a rotating cafeteria diet made up of high-fat, high-sugar foods for seven and a half weeks.

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Then, she dreams of dishes to the buoyant and ambient song, “Future Perfect” by Durutti Column and chows down to the energetic tune of “To Make You Happy” by Tommy McGee.

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He will “chow down” on applesauce at preschool parties.

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

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Since 1959, they’ve come for Chinese American classics such as sweet and sour chicken, barbecued pork chow mein, egg rolls, chop suey and shrimp fried rice.

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