chop

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun The official stamp or seal of a government, company, or individual, especially in China.
• noun Quality; class.
• intransitive verb To cut by striking with a heavy sharp tool, such as an ax.
• intransitive verb To shape or form by chopping.
• intransitive verb To cut into small pieces.
• intransitive verb To reduce abruptly or by a large amount.
• intransitive verb Sports To hit or swing at (a pitched ball) with a short downward stroke.
• intransitive verb To make heavy, cutting strokes.
• intransitive verb Archaic To move roughly or suddenly.
• noun The act of chopping.
• noun A swift, short, cutting blow or stroke.
• noun Sports A short downward stroke.
• noun A piece that has been chopped off, especially a cut of meat, usually taken from the rib, shoulder, or loin and containing a bone.
• noun A short irregular motion of waves.
• noun An area of choppy water, as on an ocean.
• intransitive verb To change direction suddenly, as a ship in the wind.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun A cutting or severing blow; a stroke, especially with some sharp instrument.
• noun A slice of mutton, lamb, or pork, usually cut from the loin, and containing the rib.
• noun Figuratively, an extortion; a forced payment.
• noun In milling, the product of the first crushing or breaking of the wheat in making flour by the modern processes.— 5. A crack, cleft, or chink: in this sense more commonly written chap. See chap, n., 1.
• noun Material which has been chopped or chaffed. See corn chop.
• noun In cricket, a stroke in which the bat, held horizontally, is brought, down hard upon a low ball on the off-side.
• To barter; truck.—
• To exchange; substitute, as one thing for another; swap.
• To bargain; chaffer; higgle.
• To bandy words; dispute.
• To turn, vary, change, or shift suddenly: as, the wind chopped or chopped about.
• To cut with a quick blow of a sharp instrument, as an ax; sever with a sudden stroke, or a succession of such strokes; cut in pieces by repeated strokes; fell; hew; hack; mince: as, to chop off a limb; to chop down a tree; to chop wood or straw; to chop meat.
• To snap up; gobble.
• To flog.
• To put in.
• To cause to cleave, split, crack, or open longitudinally, as the surface of the earth, or the skin and flesh of the hand or face: in this sense more commonly written chap. See chap, verb, I., 1.
• To use a cutting instrument, as a cleaver or an ax, with a heavy stroke: as, to spend the day in chopping.—
• To strike (at); catch (at); do something with a sudden, unexpected motion, like that of a blow.
• To cut in; come in suddenly in interruption.
• To utter words suddenly; interrupt by remarking: with in or out: as, he chopped in with a question. See phrases below.—
• To crack; open in long slits: in this sense more commonly written chap. See chap, verb, II., 1.
• noun A jaw: usually in the plural, the jaws; the entrance to a harbor. See chap.
• noun In India, China, etc.: An official mark on weights and measures to show their accuracy. A custom-house stamp or seal on goods that have been passed; a permit or clearance.
• noun In China, brand; quality: as, silk or tea of the first chop. Hence the colloquial phrase first chop, first rate.—
• noun A lot of tea to which a common mark or brand is affixed; a brand of tea. A chop may contain a few chests or a large number.
• noun An authenticated or authenticating writing or inscription.
• In tennis, base-ball, and other games, to strike (the ball) with a short, sharp, glancing stroke.
• In cricket, to strike down hard, with a horizontal bat, a low ball on the off-side.
• To cut into short pieces, as straw or silage material; to chaff: sometimes with up.
• To dig, or dig out, by a downward stroke of the hoe, as opposed to a horizontal movement: often with out.
• noun A turn of fortune; change; vicissitude. Also chap.