chop

3
[ chop ]
/ tʃɒp /

noun

Usually chops. the jaw.
chops,
  1. the oral cavity; mouth.
  2. Slang. the embouchure or technique necessary to play a wind instrument.
  3. Slang. musical ability on any instrument, especially in playing jazz or rock; technical virtuosity.
  4. Slang. the music or musical part played by an instrumentalist, especially a solo passage.
an entranceway, as into a body of water.
Horology. either of two pieces clasping the end of the suspension spring of a pendulum.

Idioms for chop

Also chap.

Origin of chop

3
1350–1400; Middle English; perhaps special use of chop1

British Dictionary definitions for lick one's chops (1 of 3)

chop 1
/ (tʃɒp) /

verb chops, chopping or chopped

noun

Word Origin for chop

C16: variant of chap 1

British Dictionary definitions for lick one's chops (2 of 3)

chop 2
/ (tʃɒp) /

verb chops, chopping or chopped

(intr) to change direction suddenly; vacillate (esp in the phrase chop and change)
obsolete to barter
chop logic to use excessively subtle or involved logic or argument

Word Origin for chop

Old English ceapian to barter; see cheap, chapman

British Dictionary definitions for lick one's chops (3 of 3)

chop 3
/ (tʃɒp) /

noun

a design stamped on goods as a trademark, esp in the Far East

Word Origin for chop

C17: from Hindi chhāp

Idioms and Phrases with lick one's chops

lick one's chops

Also, lick one's lips. Anticipate with great pleasure. For example, The kids were licking their chops as Mother described the family vacation plans, or I couldn't help but lick my lips when she talked about the menu. Both expressions allude to anticipating a tasty morsel of food. The second is the older, dating from about 1500 and used interchangeably with lick one's fingers, now seldom heard. The first also served as 1930s jazz slang for warming up, chops meaning “the jaw or mouth” (a usage dating from the 1300s).