chop

Everyday

1. To chop means to cut something into pieces with a knife or an axe. tree →
2. To chop down a tree means to cut it so it falls. tree →
3. A chop is a thick slice of meat with a bone, such as a pork or lamb chop. tree →
4. A chop is a quick hard hit or cut, like a karate chop. tree →
5. To chop something up at a mouthful means to swallow it in one big bite. tree →

In the lessons

In the kitchen you chop vegetables with a sharp knife on a chopping board — an adult should help, and fingers stay curled away from the blade. Woodcutters chop wood for a fire. In stories «chop» shows quick, strong cutting. Phrases: «chop up», «chop down», «chop off», «chopping board», «pork chop», «karate chop», «chop and change» (keep changing your mind), «get the chop» (be removed).

Examples

• Dad chopped the carrots into small pieces. tree →
• Please chop the onions for the soup. tree →
• They chopped down the dead tree. tree →
• We had lamb chops for dinner. tree →
• Use a chopping board, not the table. tree →
• He broke the board with a karate chop. tree →
• Keep your fingers away when you chop. tree →
• The logs were chopped for the campfire. tree →
• He'll certainly chop us up at a mouthful. tree →

Note

Double p before -ed and -ing: chopped, chopping. «Chop» means cutting into pieces; «slice» means cutting thin flat pieces. Safety: chopping uses sharp tools; children chop only with an adult. «Chopsticks» are eating sticks, not for chopping.

In Jewish tradition

To cut into small pieces, here meaning to cut up as meat for a pot.

Interpretation. Micah uses this savage picture against corrupt leaders who exploit the poor. Tradition reads it as a warning that those who oppress people harm God's own image.

Examples

• Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them, and break their bones; yea, they chop them in pieces, as that which is in the pot, and as flesh within the caldron. (Prophets MIC.3.3, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

Double p before -ed and -ing: chopped, chopping. «Chop» means cutting into pieces; «slice» means cutting thin flat pieces. Safety: chopping uses sharp tools; children chop only with an adult. «Chopsticks» are eating sticks, not for chopping.