📖 C — The English dictionary · page 28

chinchilla — Everyday, meaning 1: A small rodent from the Andes mountains of South America, with very soft, thick grey fur and a bushy tail.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: The fur of this animal.↗ Example: A chinchilla has the softest fur of any land animal.↗ · Our pet chinchilla rolls in special dust to keep clean.↗ · Chinchillas come from the Andes mountains.↗ · Chinchillas must not get wet, because their fur takes too long to dry.↗ · Wild chinchillas are now rare because they were hunted for fur.↗ · The chinchilla nibbled a bit of hay.↗

chine — Everyday, meaning 1: The backbone of an animal, or a joint of meat that includes part of the backbone.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: A narrow ridge of land or a mountain ridge.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: (UK, regional) A deep, narrow ravine cut by a stream through soft cliffs to the sea, especially on the Isle of Wight and in Dorset and Hampshire.↗ Everyday, meaning 4: (cooking, verb) To cut through the backbone of a joint of meat to make it easier to carve.↗ Example: We walked down Shanklin Chine to the beach on the Isle of Wight.↗ · The butcher chined the pork so it was easy to carve.↗ · A chine is a steep ravine cut into a soft cliff.↗ · The stream had carved a deep chine through the sandstone.↗ · The chef asked for a chine of beef.↗ · Bournemouth has several chines leading to the sea.↗

chinese — Everyday, meaning 1: Chinese means from China or about China.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Chinese is the language spoken in China; Mandarin is its main kind.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: The Chinese are the people of China.↗ Example: 15 students study Chinese.↗ · The Chinese restaurant sold 40 meals.↗ · She learns 8 Chinese words a week.↗ · He bought 3 Chinese lanterns.↗ · We watched the dragon dance at Chinese New Year.↗ · Chinese is written with characters, not letters.↗ · My friend speaks Chinese and English.↗ · They ate Chinese food with chopsticks.↗ · "But mamma says the Chinese have straight hair," the little boy suggested.↗ · Giles, A History of Chinese Lit- erature, New York, 1901, p. (Mordell, The Origin of Letters and Numerals according to Sefer Yetzirah (1914))↗ · * The Chinese Philosophers even actually said that the circle 0 and the (Mordell, The Origin of Letters and Numerals according to Sefer Yetzirah (1914))↗ · To avoid writing too many strokes, the Chinese made one stroke to represent five units.↗ (Mordell, The Origin of Letters and Numerals according to Sefer Yetzirah (1914))↗

chink — Everyday, meaning 1: A narrow crack or opening, as in a wall or door, that light can come through.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: A light ringing sound, like coins or glasses knocking together.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: (verb) To make this sound: «The coins chinked in his pocket.».↗ Everyday, meaning 4: (phrase) «A chink in someone's armour» means a weak spot.↗ Everyday, meaning 5: (rude, offensive) A very offensive word used against Chinese or East Asian people; never use it.↗ Example: Sunlight came through a chink in the curtains.↗ · The coins chinked in the money box.↗ · We peeped through a chink in the fence.↗ · The glasses chinked as they clinked them together.↗ · His only chink in the armour is his weak left foot.↗ · There was a chink of light under the door.↗ · He hid himself behind the door of the bath, and peeped through a chink.↗

chip — Everyday, meaning 1: A chip is a small piece broken off something hard, like wood, stone or a plate.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: A chip is the small mark left where a piece broke off, like a chip in a mug.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: In the UK, Ireland, Australia and NZ, chips are long pieces of fried potato (called «fries» in the US).↗ Everyday, meaning 4: In the US and Canada, chips are thin crunchy slices of potato from a packet (called «crisps» in the UK and Ireland).↗ Everyday, meaning 5: A computer chip is a tiny piece of material with circuits that makes electronic things work.↗ Everyday, meaning 6: To chip means to break a small piece off, or to kick or hit a ball gently into the air.↗ Everyday, meaning 7: A chip can be a small counter used in games, or a microchip in a pet.↗ Example: We had fish and chips at the seaside.↗ · There's a chip in my favourite mug.↗ · Can I have a packet of chips?↗ · Chocolate chip cookies are my favourite.↗ · The phone has a tiny computer chip inside.↗ · Our dog has a microchip so he can be found if he gets lost.↗ · She chipped the ball over the goalkeeper.↗ · Everyone chipped in to buy the teacher a present.↗ · Throw away chipped glasses, as they can cut you.↗ · There goes a shaving thinking of nothing in the world but of itself, a mere chip!↗

chipmunk — Everyday, meaning 1: A small striped squirrel of North America (and one kind in Asia) that lives in burrows and carries food in its cheek pouches.↗ Example: A chipmunk stuffed acorns into its cheeks.↗ · Chipmunks have stripes down their backs.↗ · We saw a chipmunk at the campsite in Canada.↗ · The chipmunk ran into its burrow.↗ · With his mouth full of marshmallows he had chipmunk cheeks.↗ · Chipmunks sleep a lot in winter and wake to eat stored food.↗

chipper — Everyday, meaning 1: (informal) Cheerful and lively, full of energy, as in «you're very chipper this morning».↗ Everyday, meaning 2: (Ireland, Scotland, informal) A chip shop, a takeaway selling fish and chips.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: A machine that chops wood or branches into small chips (a wood chipper).↗ Example: Grandma was feeling chipper after her walk.↗ · You're very chipper for a Monday morning!↗ (informal)↗ · We got fish and chips from the chipper.↗ (Ireland)↗ · The gardeners fed branches into the chipper.↗ · Stay well away from the wood chipper.↗ · He sounded chipper on the phone.↗

chips — Everyday, meaning 1: In the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, chips are long pieces of fried potato, called «fries» or «French fries» in the USA.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: In the USA and Canada, chips are thin, crisp slices of fried potato sold in packets, called «crisps» in the UK and Ireland (in Australia and NZ, «chips» can mean both).↗ Everyday, meaning 3: Chips are small broken pieces of wood, stone or other material.↗ Everyday, meaning 4: Chips (silicon chips, microchips) are tiny electronic parts inside computers and phones.↗ Everyday, meaning 5: Chips are small plastic tokens used in games.↗ Example: We had fish and chips at the seaside.↗ · In America, I asked for chips and got a packet of crisps.↗ · Chips are tasty, but too many are not healthy.↗ · Chocolate chips make cookies delicious.↗ · Wood chips cover the playground.↗ · Computers are full of tiny chips.↗ · Our dog has a microchip, so the vet could find his owners.↗ · Put some salt and vinegar on your chips.↗ · "But I would rather be chopped to chips," said the elder.↗ · For, behold, the LORD commandeth, and the great house shall be smitten into splinters, and the little house into chips.↗ (Prophets AMO.6.11, JPS 1917)↗

chirp — Everyday, meaning 1: To chirp means to make a short, high sound, like a small bird or a cricket.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: A chirp is that sound.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: To chirp can mean to say something in a bright, cheerful voice.↗ Example: The birds chirped in the morning.↗ · We heard crickets chirping at night.↗ · The baby bird chirped for food.↗ · Good morning! she chirped.↗ · My phone chirps when I get a message.↗ · Crickets chirp faster when it is warm.↗ · "Peep, peep, pe--weep!" chirped the bird.↗ · And when they shall say unto you: 'Seek unto the ghosts and the familiar spirits, that chirp and that mutter; should not a people seek unto their God? on behalf of the living unto the dead (Prophets ISA.8.19, JPS 1917)↗

chirrup — Everyday, meaning 1: To chirrup is to make a series of short, high sounds, like a bird or an insect; to chirp.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: A person chirrups when they talk in a bright, cheerful, high voice.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: (noun) A chirrup is such a sound.↗ Example: The sparrows chirruped in the hedge.↗ · We heard the chirrup of crickets.↗ · «Good morning!» she chirruped.↗ · The baby bird chirruped for food.↗ · The grasshoppers chirruped in the long grass.↗ · A robin chirruped on the fence.↗ · Then the twins crumbled their bread on the ground, and the wrens pecked it, and chirruped and chirped.↗

chisel — Everyday, meaning 1: A tool with a flat, sharp metal end, used with a hammer or mallet to cut or shape wood, stone or metal.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: (verb) To cut or carve with a chisel: «He chiselled his name into the stone.».↗ Everyday, meaning 3: (adjective form) «Chiselled» features means a face with sharp, clear lines.↗ Everyday, meaning 4: (old slang, US) To cheat someone.↗ Example: The carpenter used a chisel to make a groove.↗ · Michelangelo carved marble with a chisel.↗ · Always cut away from your body with a chisel.↗ · They chiselled the names into the war memorial.↗ · The stonemason tapped the chisel with a mallet.↗ · The hero had a chiselled jaw.↗ · Sometimes he would make a little statue of soft clay; sometimes he would take hammer and chisel, and try to cut a statue from a piece of rock.↗

chislev — In Jewish tradition, meaning 1: The ninth month of the Hebrew calendar, around November and December.↗ Example: Now it came to pass in the month Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the castle, (Writings NEH.1.1, JPS 1917)↗ · And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius, that the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah in the fourth day of the ninth month, even in Chislev; (Prophets ZEC.7.1, JPS 1917)↗

chitin — Everyday, meaning 1: (science) Chitin is the tough natural material that makes up the hard outer skeleton of insects, spiders, crabs and lobsters, and the cell walls of fungi.↗ Example: A beetle's hard shell is made of chitin.↗ · Crabs have chitin in their shells.↗ · Chitin protects insects like a suit of armour.↗ · Mushrooms have chitin in their cell walls.↗ · The cicada left its chitin shell on the tree.↗ · Because chitin cannot stretch, insects must moult to grow.↗

chivalric — Everyday, meaning 1: Chivalric means of or like the code of knights in old times: brave, honest and courteous to others.↗ Example: The knight showed chivalric courage.↗ · Stories of chivalric deeds fill the old books.↗ · A chivalric knight always helps the weak.↗

chivalrous — Everyday, meaning 1: Chivalrous means brave, polite and kind, especially to women and the weak, as knights were meant to be.↗ Example: The chivalrous prince saved the maiden.↗ · It was chivalrous of him to let her go first.↗ · He gave up his seat to the old lady, a chivalrous act.↗

chivalry — Everyday, meaning 1: The rules and ideals that medieval knights were supposed to follow: being brave, loyal, honest, protecting the weak and serving God and their lord.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Polite, kind and generous behaviour, especially old-fashioned courtesy shown by men to women, like holding a door.↗ Example: Knights were expected to follow the rules of chivalry.↗ · King Arthur's knights were famous for their chivalry.↗ · Holding the door for someone is a small act of chivalry.↗ · «Chivalry isn't dead!» said Gran when the boy carried her bags.↗ · The story is full of chivalry, quests and dragons.↗ · Chivalry asked knights to protect the weak.↗ · "Here it is splendid in summer!" she said, and they passed by old castles of the age of chivalry.↗

chives — Everyday, meaning 1: A small herb with thin, hollow green leaves that taste like a mild onion, used chopped on food.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: The plant that grows these leaves; it has round purple flowers.↗ Example: Sprinkle chopped chives on the baked potato.↗ · We grew chives in a pot on the classroom windowsill.↗ · Chives belong to the onion family.↗ · Mum made scrambled eggs with chives.↗ · The chives have pretty purple flowers in early summer.↗ · Bees love the flowers of chives.↗ · Use scissors to snip the chives.↗ · In one grew some very fine chives or leeks; this was the kitchen garden.↗

chivvy — Everyday, meaning 1: (mainly UK, informal) To keep telling someone to hurry up or do something, in an annoying way.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: To chase or hunt someone, or drive animals along.↗ Example: Mum chivvied us out of bed for school.↗ · The teacher chivvied the class back inside after the bell.↗ · The sheepdog chivvied the sheep through the gate.↗ · Stop chivvying me, I'm nearly ready!↗ · Dad chivvied everyone into the car.↗ · In the story the weasels chivvied the poor rabbits.↗

chloramine — Everyday, meaning 1: A chemical made from chlorine and ammonia, used to kill germs in tap water.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: The smelly chemicals that form in swimming pools when chlorine mixes with sweat and wee; they cause the «pool smell» and sore eyes.↗ Example: Some cities add chloramine to tap water to kill germs.↗ · The strong pool smell comes from chloramines.↗ · Shower before swimming to reduce chloramines.↗ · Never mix bleach and ammonia cleaners; they make chloramine gas.↗ · Chloramine in tap water can harm pet fish, so it must be removed first.↗ · Chloramines can make your eyes red and itchy.↗

chloride — Everyday, meaning 1: (science) A chemical compound made of chlorine joined with another element; the best known is sodium chloride, which is common table salt.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: (science) The chloride ion, a chlorine atom with an extra electron, found dissolved in sea water and in our bodies.↗ Example: Table salt is sodium chloride.↗ · Sea water contains a lot of sodium chloride.↗ · Calcium chloride is spread on roads to melt ice.↗ · Our blood has chloride in it, which the body needs.↗ · We evaporated salt water and saw sodium chloride crystals form.↗ · The label listed potassium chloride as an ingredient.↗

chlorinate — Everyday, meaning 1: To add chlorine to water to kill germs and make it safe for drinking or swimming.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: (chemistry) To combine a substance with chlorine.↗ Example: They chlorinate the pool water every day.↗ · Our tap water is chlorinated to kill germs.↗ · Chlorinating drinking water stops cholera.↗ · The lifeguard tested how chlorinated the pool was.↗ · Engineers chlorinate the water at the treatment works.↗ · Chlorinated water can make your hair feel dry.↗