chops

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English

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Inflected forms. The jazz slang sense “musical ability” is a reference to the use of the lips to blow instruments.

Noun

chops

  1. plural of chop

Noun

chops pl (plural only)

  1. (slang) Jaws, lips, mouth.
    Alternative form: chaps
    • 1771, [Tobias Smollett], The Expedition of Humphry Clinker , volume I, London: W. Johnston, ; and B. Collins, , →OCLC, page 174:
      […] who knows but ſome fine lady of St. James's pariſh might admit into her delicate mouth thoſe very cherries, which had been rolled and moiſtened between the filthy, and, perhaps, ulcerated chops of a St. Giles's huckſter […]
    • 1946, Milton “Mezz” Mezzrow, Bernard Wolfe, “Forgottenest Man in Town”, in Really the Blues, New York, N.Y.: Random House, book 2 (1923–1928: Chicago, Chicago), page 139:
      If we'd a had a second-hand crystal ball to look into, we’d have seen the lean and gripy times ready to smack us in our chops by the year the depression rolled around, when the big commercial outfits got complete control of the popular-music business.
  2. (originally US jazz slang) One's skill at musical interpretation and delivery; musical performance ability.
    Although the bass player had no experience playing in New Orleans, the crowd's enthusiastic response showed that he had the chops to make it in the very particular Crescent City jazz scene.
    • 1999 June, Al Stevens, “Jukebox: Covering the Basses”, in Dr. Dobb's Journal, volume 24, number 6, San Francisco, Calif.: Miller Freeman, Inc., →ISSN, page 115:
      Recently, I have taken up the double bass again, but because time and neglect erode ability, calluses turn soft, and muscle memory fades, I need to woodshed (practice) to get back into shape and build up my chops.
  3. (informal, by extension) One's skill at any endeavor; ability, talent; competency.
    Although he did not know all of the ins and outs of the newsroom, he had the writing chops to become a regular contributor.
    • 2009 March 6, Alan Sepinwall, quoting Vince Gilligan, “Sepinwall on TV: Bryan Cranston talks 'Breaking Bad' season two”, in The Star-Ledger‎, archived from the original on 2011-11-16:
      ["]If you don't have a guy who gives you that, despite the greatest acting chops in the world, the show is not going to succeed," Gilligan adds.
    • 2011 October 27, Conor Friedersdorf, “A Dare for Herman Cain: Prove Your Foreign-Policy Chops”, in The Atlantic‎:
      In Sean Hannity's interview with Herman Cain, the Fox News host asks, with his signature slow-pitch softball style, whether the former CEO has the necessary foreign policy chops to be president.
    • 2016, Christopher Duffy et al., Python: Penetration Testing for Developers, Packt Publishing Ltd, →ISBN:
      If you're a Python guru, you can look for ideas to apply your craft to penetration testing, or if you are a newbie Pythonist with some penetration testing chops, then this module serves as a perfect ending to your search for some hands-on experience in pentesting.
    • 2023 August 16, Jonathan Rauch, “Why Not Pence?”, in The Atlantic‎:
      Former Governor and UN Ambassador Nikki Haley and Senator Tim Scott have governing chops and personal appeal, and they have been shrewd about keeping Trump at a distance without seeming to attack him, but they are relative newbies and unknown quantities in national politics—high-risk propositions against an incumbent.
    • 2023 October 19, Brendan I. Koerner, “Watch This Guy Work, and You’ll Finally Understand the TikTok Era”, in Wired‎, →ISSN:
      His portfolio expanded as he honed his SEO chops—he was assigned to the Ubisoft account to help launch an Assassin’s Creed title, for example, and he produced YouTube content for Telemundo during the 2018 World Cup.
  4. (nautical) The area where two tides meet and cause an irregular (choppy) sea.
  5. (juggling) A pattern that involves carrying the object with the hand over the next object before throwing it.
  6. (Australia, Nigeria, slang) Food.
Derived terms

Verb

chops

  1. third-person singular simple present indicative of chop
    He chops wood all day.

Etymology 2

Verb

chops (third-person singular simple present chopses, present participle chopsing, simple past and past participle chopsed)

  1. Alternative form of chopse

Further reading

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