Chaps

a pair of joined leather leggings, often widely flared, worn over trousers, especially by cowboys, as protection against burs, rope burns, etc., while on horseback.
to crack, roughen, and redden (the skin):
The windy, cold weather chapped her lips.
to cause (the ground, wood, etc.) to split, crack, or open in clefts:
The summer heat and drought chapped the riverbank.
to become chapped.
a fissure or crack, especially in the skin.
Scot. a knock; rap.
Informal. a fellow; man or boy.
Chiefly Midland and Southern U.S. a baby or young child.
British Dialect. a customer.
chop3 .
plural noun
leather overalls without a seat, worn by cowboys Also called chaparejos, chaparajos
verb chaps, chapping, chapped
(of the skin) to make or become raw and cracked, esp by exposure to cold
(Scot) (of a clock) to strike (the hour)
(Scot) to knock (at a door, window, etc)
noun
(usually pl) a cracked or sore patch on the skin caused by chapping
(Scot) a knock
noun
(informal) a man or boy; fellow
noun
a less common word for chop3
n.

1844, American English, short for chaparejos, from Mexican Spanish chaparreras, overalls worn to protect from chaparro (see chaparral).

“jaws, cheeks,” from chap (n.), 1550s, of unknown origin. Hence, chap-fallen (1590s).
n.

1570s, “customer,” short for obsolete chapman “purchaser, trader” (see cheap). Colloquial sense of “lad, fellow” is first attested 1716 (cf. slang tough customer).
v.

“to crack,” mid-15c., chappen (intransitive) “to split, burst open;” “cause to crack” (transitive); perhaps a variant of choppen (see chop (v.), and cf. strap/strop), or related to Middle Dutch kappen “to chop, cut,” Danish kappe, Swedish kappa “to cut.” Related: Chapped; chapping. The noun meaning “fissure in the skin” is from late 14c.

Related Terms

chops

noun

A man; fellow; guy, joe •Predominantly British use: Which of you chaps is ready?/ This may amuse the chappies

[1700s+; fr a shortening of chapman, ”peddler; peddler’s customer,” hence analogous with customer in the same sense]
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