Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - chop

~1 v chopped, chopping 1 »CUT STH« chop up to cut something such as food or wood into smaller pieces  (Can you chop some firewood? | chop sth into pieces/chunks/segments)  (Chop an onion into pieces.) 2 »REDUCE STH« to reduce by a large amount the money that can be spent  (Next year's budget has been chopped by fifty percent.) 3 »SWING A TOOL« to swing a heavy tool such as an axe1 (1) in order to cut something + away/a  (Ben's been chopping away at that tree for two hours now.) 4 »MAKE A PATH« to make a path by cutting down plants  (The leader chopped a rough trail through the jungle. | chop your way through)  (We chopped our way through the underbrush.) 5 chop and change BrE informal to keep changing your mind 6 »HIT STH« to hit something by moving your hand downward quickly and suddenly  (I chopped his wrist and he dropped the knife.) chop sth down phr v to make a tree or strong plant fall down by cutting it with a sharp tool such as an axe1 (1) chop sth off phr v to remove something by cutting it with a sharp tool such as an axe1 (1) so that it is no longer connected to something else  (Charles I had his head chopped off.) ~2 n 1 »MEAT« a small flat piece of meat on a bone, usually cut from a sheep or pig  (a grilled pork chop) 2 get the chop BrE informal a) to lose your job  (Six more salesmen got the chop yesterday.) b) to officially stop something or reduce the amount you are paying for it  (The project got the chop in the last board meeting.) 3 be for the chop BrE informal to be very likely to be closed or stopped  (One of the three factories is for the chop.) 4 »WITH YOUR HAND« a sudden downward movement with your hand  (a karate chop) 5 »WITH A TOOL« the act of hitting something once with a sharp tool such as an axe1 (1) 6 the chops informal the part of your face that includes your mouth and jaw  (I hit him in the chops.)