🧔 Sideburns 🎸 Skill or ability 👄 Mouth or jaws

chops

1 3.8

The mouth or jaws used for eating

noun
/tʃɑps/

: boca

He spoke with a funny accent that made it sound like a cartoon character was using his chops.

If, if, if they just if they don't like you and you give them reasons that is like you, they are going to they just they're licking their chops for when things go wrong.

Examples

When the dog barked, his chops flapped wildly in the wind.
It's like they've got the cutest little chops or you can't really see.
And listen, Mr Faddy-Chops, I've timed these eggs especially for you this morning.

A Kind of Loving (1962)
I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH MORE MY CHOPS CAN TAKE TODAY, BOSS.

Beyond the Sea (2004)
SITTIN' UP THERE NOW EATING PORK CHOPS.

Rosewood (1997)
The baby smiled and showed off her tiny chops while eating her favorite snack.

Synonyms

chop

vschops

Informal

40 7.9

A part of the face near the lower jaw in people and animals

is the informal plural form used for mouth parts involved in biting

Idioms

to bust someone's chops

Informal

1 9.0

To tease or nag someone, often in a playful way

to break someone's chops

Archaic

8.7

To tease or nag someone in a way that annoys them

Compounds

mutton chops

1 5.3

Thick sideburns that grow down the cheeks and reach the jaw

mutton chops

1 3.9

Pieces of sheep meat, usually from the ribs, cooked and served as a meal

cheeky chops

Baby Talk

8.9

A person, often a child, who speaks or acts in a bold, playful, slightly rude way

Surface Forms

chop singular

chops plural

Morphology

chops = chop (semi-transparent) = chop + s

The sense 'mouth/jaws' follows a straightforward pluralization of an informal noun meaning 'chop' (jaw), but that informal sense is not widely known to all learners.

Etymology

Chops for the mouth or jaws comes from an old word for the 'jaw', so people use it in a funny, informal way for the part that bites and talks. That's why you might hear someone say 'shut your chops' to mean 'shut your mouth'.