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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

Any kind of overdose can be fatal, and as the owner of a chow chow puppy that — I am sorry to say — loves to eat poop, I take the concern seriously.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2022

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

“If that chow chow flicks her fluffy fur one more time, I swear it’s going to fly off.”

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

Serve with this a dish of chow-chow, or one of small cucumber pickles.

From A Little Cook Book for a Little Girl by Caroline French Benton

With a "Hâthi! hâthi! hâthi!" ele-phant and buffalo, "Chow-chow, chow-chow, chow-chow, chow-chow," "Tèri ma!"

From The Wings of the Morning by Louis Tracy

Our principal freight from Liverpool at that time consisted of crockery from the Staffordshire potteries, Manchester dry-goods, and iron and steel, and what were known as "chow-chow," or miscellaneous articles.

From My Life in Many States and in Foreign Lands Dictated in My Seventy-Fourth Year by George Francis Train

We'll put the beet salad by the chicken and the cabbage salad by the ham and the chow-chow betwixt 'em.

From Up the Hill and Over by Isabel Ecclestone Mackay

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