I. ˈchap verb
( chapped ; chapped ; chapping ; chaps )
Etymology: probably from Middle English chappen, chapien, from Old English cēapian — more at cheap
1. dialect England : buy , barter
2. Scotland : to fix upon : choose
II. noun
( -s )
Etymology: short for chapman
1. now dialect England : buyer , customer , chapman
2. : man , boy , fellow
a rare plum for a chap of 25 — F.B.Vickers
the newspaper chaps — Erle Stanley Gardner
3. South & Midland : child , baby
III. verb
( chapped ; chapped ; chapping ; chaps )
Etymology: Middle English chappen; akin to Middle Dutch cappen to cut down, German dialect (southern Alsatian) kchapfe to chop up; all probably from a prehistoric E-D-German word borrowed from (assumed) Vulgar Latin cappare to castrate, cut, chop (whence Medieval Latin cappare to cut), from (assumed) Vulgar Latin cappo capon, from Latin capo — more at capon
transitive verb
1. Scotland : to break into small pieces : chop , pound
2.
a. : to cause to open in slits or chinks : split , crack
b. : to cause the skin of (as the face) to crack or become rough
3. chiefly Scotland : strike
chap the hour
: beat
intransitive verb
1. : to crack or open in slits
the hands or lips chap
2. chiefly Scotland : strike , knock , rap
IV. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from chappen to chop, become cracked
1. : a crack in or a sore roughening of the skin from exposure to wind or cold
2. Scotland : blow , rap , knock , stroke
V. ˈchäp, -ap noun
( -s )
Etymology: chap (III)
1. usually plural
a. : one of the jaws or the fleshy covering of a jaw
the animal's chaps were smeared with blood
b. : the forepart of the face
a dog hairless around the chaps
puckered a little about the chaps — Christopher Morley
— called also chop
2. : one of the jaws or cheeks of a clamping tool (as a vise)
VI. abbreviation
1. chaplain
2. chapter