Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. One of a pair of slender sticks made especially of wood or ivory, held between the thumb and fingers and used as an eating utensil in Asian countries and in restaurants serving Asian food.
Wiktionary
- n. A (single) particular East Asian eating utensil, used in pairs and held in the hand, the utensil is a stick, usually made of wood, of approximately 23cm (~10") in length.
- n. ethnic slur an Asian person
WordNet 3.0
- n. one of a pair of slender sticks used as oriental tableware to eat food with
Etymologies
- From Chinese Pidgin English chop ("quick") (compare chop-chop) + stick. (Wiktionary)
- Pidgin English chop, quick (probably from Cantonese kap; akin to Mandarin jí) + stick. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“When using chopsticks, only the top chopstick is supposed to move - and don't hold your chopsticks too close to the tip, or you're liable to find yourself being mocked by some little kid.”
“He would make her a drink in the kitchen, stirring in the Rose’s lime juice with a chopstick from the Japanese take-out place.”
“What do you think that is, some kind of chopstick?”
“And English seems to be the only Western language blessed with a dedicated word, "chopstick", for that versatile Asian eating utensil.”
“Her house is a temple to the interior designer's style and immaculate order, with not a chopstick out of place there is a table set for four in the room next door, in readiness for an Asian meal.”
“Use a chopstick or skewer to lightly swirl the batters.”
“This "like"- and "as"-riddled prose is strangely exhausting - and clunky when the metaphors don't work: "the bridge of her nose as straight and tall as a chopstick standing at attention.”
The Washington Post: Book World: Lionel Shriver reviews Yan Lianke's 'Dream of Ding Village'
“Claims escaped and returned to kill his guard with chopstick while helping other POW escape!!”
“Peaking out of the top steamer is thousands of disposable chopstick — accumulated in less than a year by a ‘one child policy’ family — packed together and standing on end.”
“I was going to include a chopstick rest but all the ones I have are sort of traditional-looking ones.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘chopstick’.
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Words I like
This is a list of my favourite words (phrases) in english, as a second language. I love them mostly because of how they sound and their meaning.
ninja, cookie, skill, zip, plentiful, digg, debris, pancake, cucumber, fetch, pot, backpack and 461 more...
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encyclopedia gustatorica
béchamel, tart, pie, cupcake, roux, jambalaya, étouffé, succulent, plum, pomegranate, peach, apple and 300 more...
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pyeplant's Words
giblet, crackerjack, pocket, hoosier, chopsaw, slew, ratchet, pantuflas, wigwam, kettle, winter, dirigible and 44 more...
Tweets
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