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Glite Dictionary
to get the chop

to get the chop

1 8.6
Lose your job, often suddenly
  • phrasal verb
  • UK
translation icon : ser despedido
  • He was shocked to learn that he would get the chop after only six months in the new position.

Examples

  • Okay, so a couple of hundred Yanks will get the chop.

    Too Late the Hero (1970)

  • Those other dumb shits are going to get the chop.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • She told us that the fellow who invented that got the chop himself.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • He pulled in his horns after seeing Saddam get the chop, but his motives never changed.

    Blog text (1)

  • After a disappointing performance, the manager announced that a few players would get the chop from the team.

  • Amid rumors of budget cuts, several employees feared they would get the chop before the end of the month.

Synonyms

to fire
vsto get the chop
∞ 2.8

To officially make someone leave their job

is used especially when the dismissal happens suddenly or without notice
to let go
vsto get the chop
852 3.8

To stop employing someone so they lose their job

is harsher and usually suggests the job loss came as a surprise
to throw out
vsto get the chop
236 3.0

To force someone to leave a place, job, or group

is specific to losing paid employment and often happening suddenly
to terminate
vsto get the chop
  • Formal
90 5.5

To make someone stop working for a company

is more colloquial and highlights abrupt or unexpected loss of work
to boot out
vsto get the chop
  • Informal
15 5.8

Force someone to leave a job or organization suddenly

is used when that forced exit is sudden and often surprising
to give (someone) the boot
vsto get the chop
  • Informal
12 7.4

To stop someone from working at their job, usually because of bad work or behavior

emphasizes the surprising or sudden firing rather than just informality
to get the sack
vsto get the chop
  • UK
2 4.8

Lose your job because your employer fires you

is used when dismissal is sudden or unexpectedly without warning
to kick-out
vsto get the chop
1 4.0

To force someone to leave a place, group or job

is focused on employment loss and often includes an unexpected element
to sack someone
vsto get the chop
  • UK
4.8

To stop employing someone, often suddenly as punishment

is similar but stresses the unexpected personal shock of the loss
to give the axe
vsto get the chop
  • UK
7.4

To suddenly end someone's job or a relationship, often without warning

focuses more on the surprising or unexpected nature of the dismissal

Antonyms

to retain
236 3.4

To keep having something such as a job or possession

How Dismissed

to get the chop
  • UK
1 8.6
to terminate
  • Formal
90 5.5
fired
2.2
to let go
852 3.8
laid-off
  • US
68 4.0

Surface Forms

get the chop infinitive
getting the chop present participle
gets the chop third person singular
got the chop past
got the chop past participle

Morphology

get + the + chop

The phrase uses the literal sense of 'chop' (a cut) metaphorically — being 'cut' from a job — so there is a recognisable relation to the constituent meanings. However, the nominal form 'the chop' meaning 'dismissal' is idiomatic and not fully predictable from knowing 'get' and 'chop', so a B1 learner would only partially infer the meaning without prior exposure.

Etymology

The idiom get the chop comes from the image of being put on a chopping block and cut, like meat or wood. If someone was 'chopped' they were cut out of their job, so the phrase came to mean 'to be fired'.