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• chow
  chow

  noun

  food, especially hearty dishes or a meal.
• Chow
  Chow

  noun

  a contemptuous term used to refer to a Chinese person.

chow

¹ American  

[chou] / tʃaʊ /

noun

1. food, especially hearty dishes or a meal.

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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 American  

[chou] / tʃaʊ /

noun

(often initial capital letter)

1. chow chow.

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Chow ³ American  

[chou] / tʃaʊ /

noun

Australian Disparaging and Offensive.

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

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chow British  

/ tʃaʊ /

noun

1. informal food

2. short for chow-chow

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Etymology

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. )

Explanation

Chow is food. You might offer to make your little sister her favorite chow for her birthday: macaroni and cheese with chocolate cake for dessert. The word chow is an informal way to say "food" or "meal." Someone happily gobbling tacos might say, "I just love Mexican chow," or your dad might open up a pizza delivery box and yell, "Time for chow, everybody!" Chow is an American English word that originated in California around 1856, from the Chinese pidgin English chow-chow, "food," which probably originated with the Chinese cha, "mixed."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

chow Chow

Artificial intelligence may have already taken a bite out of software this year, but a profit warning from IBM indicates that it’s hardware’s turn to chow down.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026

Over in the canteen, Syrian and African musicians chow down with Posdnuos from De La Soul and sitar legend Anoushka Shankar.

From BBC ● Jun. 21, 2026

The findings showed that mice strongly favored carbohydrate-rich foods and stopped eating their standard chow altogether.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 14, 2026

To tell that complicated story, Hethington depends on dishes like Guyanese chow mein and Trini-Chinese chicken.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 30, 2026

“By the way,” said Cha-Cha, “did you know that I’m a purebred chow chow?”

From "Dog Squad" by Chris Grabenstein

Exports could remain firm, supported by strong electrical and electronics shipments as global AI-related demand continues to drive growth, DBS economists Taimur Baig and Nathan Chow said in a note.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026

Now in its 15th year, the glitzy annual event co-hosted by Eva Chow and Leonardo DiCaprio is set to take place Nov. 7.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026

Jerry Chow, chief technology officer of IBM Quantum-Centric Supercomputing, said at a press conference earlier this month that the progress the quantum industry has made in the past two decades is “is just amazing.”

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 23, 2026

Defendants Lee Cheuk-yan, 69, and Chow Hang-tung, 41, were leaders of a now-defunct group called the Hong Kong Alliance that arranged an annual candlelight vigil in the city's Victoria Park for decades.

From Barron's ● May 18, 2026

Did they feel any sympathy for Bebe Chow, who would never get to see her daughter again?

From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng