chaps

[chaps, shaps] /tʃæps, ʃæps/
noun, (used with a plural verb)
1.
a pair of joined leather leggings, often widely flared, worn over trousers, especially by cowboys, as protection against burs, rope burns, etc., while on horseback.
Also called chaparajos, chaparejos.
Origin
1810-20, Americanism; short for chaparajos

chap1

[chap] /tʃæp/
verb (used with object), chapped, chapping.
1.
to crack, roughen, and redden (the skin):
The windy, cold weather chapped her lips.
2.
to cause (the ground, wood, etc.) to split, crack, or open in clefts:
The summer heat and drought chapped the riverbank.
verb (used without object), chapped, chapping.
3.
to become chapped.
noun
4.
a fissure or crack, especially in the skin.
5.
Scot. a knock; rap.
Origin
1275-1325; Middle English chappen; cognate with Dutch kappen to cut; akin to chip1
Related forms
unchapped, adjective

chap2

[chap] /tʃæp/
noun
1.
Informal. a fellow; man or boy.
2.
Chiefly Midland and Southern U.S. a baby or young child.
3.
British Dialect. a customer.
Origin
1570-80; short for chapman

chap3

[chop, chap] /tʃɒp, tʃæp/
noun
1.
chop3 .
Origin
1325-75; Middle English; perhaps special use of chap1
Examples from the web for chaps
  • The wanderer finds remote ranches and cowboys in hats and chaps instead of crusty fish camps and shirtless fishermen in sandals.
  • Depends on what you got going on with those chaps, cowboy.
  • They are great, buoyant chaps who hunt and fish and drink beer out of cans.
  • The chaps he liked best, however, were the tough ones.
  • Don't worry, chaps, the doomsters will soon fall silent.
  • Which seems to demonstrate that too many people, you included, do not understand what these chaps were doing.
  • On the page, the two chaps both talk as if they were soda syphons, gushing and driveling by turns.
  • The dingy chaps are almost done, last section to be sewed.
  • Notwithstanding the frost-touch the hardy little chaps maintain themselves in all their bloom.
  • The other kind features charming, family-minded chaps, egged on by good-humoured fans.
British Dictionary definitions for chaps

chaps

/tʃæps; ʃæps/
plural noun
1.
leather overalls without a seat, worn by cowboys Also called chaparejos, chaparajos
Word Origin
C19: shortened from chaparejos

chap1

/tʃæp/
verb chaps, chapping, chapped
1.
(of the skin) to make or become raw and cracked, esp by exposure to cold
2.
(Scot) (of a clock) to strike (the hour)
3.
(Scot) to knock (at a door, window, etc)
noun
4.
(usually pl) a cracked or sore patch on the skin caused by chapping
5.
(Scot) a knock
Word Origin
C14: probably of Germanic origin; compare Middle Dutch, German kappen to chop off

chap2

/tʃæp/
noun
1.
(informal) a man or boy; fellow
Word Origin
C16 (in the sense: buyer): shortened from chapman

chap3

/tʃɒp; tʃæp/
noun
1.
a less common word for chop3
Word Origin and History for chaps
n.

1844, American English, short for chaparejos, from Mexican Spanish chaparreras, overalls worn to protect from chaparro (see chaparral).

"jaws, cheeks," from chap (n.), 1550s, of unknown origin. Hence, chap-fallen (1590s).

chap

n.

1570s, "customer," short for obsolete chapman "purchaser, trader" (see cheap). Colloquial sense of "lad, fellow" is first attested 1716 (cf. slang tough customer).

v.

"to crack," mid-15c., chappen (intransitive) "to split, burst open;" "cause to crack" (transitive); perhaps a variant of choppen (see chop (v.), and cf. strap/strop), or related to Middle Dutch kappen "to chop, cut," Danish kappe, Swedish kappa "to cut." Related: Chapped; chapping. The noun meaning "fissure in the skin" is from late 14c.

Slang definitions & phrases for chaps

chaps

Related Terms

chops


chap

noun

A man; fellow; guy, joe •Predominantly British use: Which of you chaps is ready?/ This may amuse the chappies

[1700s+; fr a shortening of chapman, ''peddler; peddler's customer,'' hence analogous with customer in the same sense]


Related Abbreviations for chaps

CHAP

Community Health Accreditation Program