chitlins

6 9.6

Cooked pig intestines eaten as food, often in the American South

noun
/ˈʧɪtlɪnz/

: mollejas

My grandmother makes the best chitlins every Thanksgiving.

Examples

Many people serve chitlins with vinegar and hot sauce.
The smell of chitlins cooking filled the house.
We had chitlins for dinner last night.
Do you like chitlins with hot sauce?
Many people serve chitlins with vinegar and hot sauce.
My grandmother makes the best chitlins every Thanksgiving.
The smell of chitlins cooking filled the house.

Synonyms

chitterlings

vschitlins

1 9.9

Small pig intestines that people clean and cook to eat

is the form often described specifically in Southern United States cuisine

chitlin

vschitlins

1 9.1

A food made from small pig intestines that are cleaned and cooked, often in Southern US cooking

is the plural form referring to several pieces rather than one

chitlings

vschitlins

1 9.9

Small pig intestines that are cleaned and cooked as food

is an alternative plural spelling with the same meaning and use

Surface Forms

chitlins singular

chitlins plural

Etymology

Chitlins comes from an older English word chitterlings, which meant 'small intestines'. A helpful way to remember it is to think of 'chitter' (as in 'chitter-chatter') suggesting something small and wriggly, like the twisty parts of a pig that are cooked in the American South. That's why chitlins today means the cooked small intestines of pigs.