chopping

SayCHOP-ingUS/ˈt͡ʃɑpɪŋ/UK/ˈt͡ʃɒpɪŋ/

4 meanings of chopping

1
verb
Present participle and gerund of chop.
Chopping vegetables is the first step in the recipe.
The cook was chopping herbs when the timer went off.
Note
The -ing form doubles the final p, as short verbs ending in a single consonant do. It carries every use of chop, including the gambling one: players chopping the pot agree to split it rather than play on. As a gerund it can stand as a subject (chopping wood is tiring), and from there it shades into the noun for the action, which can even take a plural.
2
noununcountable
The action of cutting or splitting something with one or more sharp, downward blows.
The rhythmic chopping of vegetables drifted in from the kitchen.
Hours of chopping left a tall stack of split logs by the shed.
Similarcutting, hacking, splitting, hewing
3
adjective
Shifting or changing suddenly, as the wind does; also, having tumbling waves that dash against one another.
A chopping wind made it impossible to hold a steady course.
The ferry rolled in the chopping sea beyond the breakwater.
Similarrough, turbulent, variable
Oppositesteady, calm, smooth

Less common meaning

4
adjectiveobsolete
Of a person or animal, stout, large, and plump in build.
Neighbors admired the chopping infant, round-cheeked and heavy in his mother's arms.
The squire kept a chopping mare, broad and well-fed through the winter.
Note
This sense has dropped out of the language and is easily misread today. When Elijah Fenton, writing before 1730 in The Widow's Wile, has a smiling planet give a couple "a chopping child," he means a big, sturdy baby, a lucky gift. The word has nothing to do with cutting here. Keep it for historical pastiche, since a modern reader will think of the blade first.

chopping is a form of chop

chop, verb: To cut something into pieces using short, forceful cutting motions. Full entry

Forms: chopchops he/she/itchopping -ing formchopped past tense, past participle
Spelling: chop → chopping: double the p, add -ing

Use it in a sentence

Write your own sentence with chopping, and AI will tell you whether it fits and which meaning you used.