1 A2 neutral
To cut food into smaller pieces for cooking
"Please chop up the carrots and onions before adding them to the pot."
separable
chop up
A2 neutral separable transitive
To cut something into many smaller pieces
In plain English
To cut something into lots of small pieces, like when you chop vegetables for cooking
What does "chop up" mean?
3 meanings, ordered from most common to least. Color-coded by CEFR level.
2 A2 neutral
To cut or break something large (such as wood or furniture) into smaller parts
"He spent the afternoon chopping up fallen trees after the storm."
separable
3 B1 idiomatic informal
To divide something (such as land, a company, or a text) into smaller sections (figurative)
"The developers chopped up the old estate into dozens of smaller plots."
separable
Literal vs figurative
Words literally mean
To chop (cut) something so it ends up (in an 'up' state of completion) in pieces
Actually means
To cut something into lots of small pieces, like when you chop vegetables for cooking
Usage tip
Very common in cooking contexts. Can also be used informally about destroying or damaging something. 'Chop up' suggests the result is many pieces, whereas 'chop off' implies removing one piece. The object can be split: 'chop the onion up' or kept together: 'chop up the onion'.
Words that pair with "chop up"
Natural word combinations native speakers use most often.
onion vegetables meat wood garlic herbs
How to conjugate "chop up"
The five tense forms you'll use most often.
Base
chop up
I/you/we/they
3rd person
chops up
he/she/it
Past simple
choped up
yesterday
Past participle
choped up
have + pp
-ing form
choping up
continuous
Hear "chop up" in the wild
Listen to native speakers using "chop up" in real YouTube videos — click a clip to watch it on Looplines.
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