Word.ws English Dictionary

chin-up

US/ˈtʃɪn.ʌp/

chin-up noun: (US) An exercise done for strengthening the arms and back, in which one lifts one's own weight while hanging from a bar. It can be defined more restrictively on criteria like the arms starting at lock-out, or the chin requiring contact with the bottom of the bar, or touching the neck to the bar. Palms may be facing in any direction.

chin-up: (US) An exercise done for strengthening the arms and back, in which one lifts one's own weight...
Image: https:/, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

chin-up (plural chin-ups)

  1. (US) An exercise done for strengthening the arms and back, in which one lifts one's own weight while hanging from a bar. It can be defined more restrictively on criteria like the arms starting at lock-out, or the chin requiring contact with the bottom of the bar, or touching the neck to the bar. Palms may be facing in any direction.
    • Compare the actions of the humerus during the performance of a chin-up with supinated grip with those during the performance of a chin-up with pronated grip. Are the chin-ups alike or different with respect to muscle involvement?1973 Marilyn M. Hinson, Kinesiology, page 63

Forms of chin-up

pluralchin-ups

Origin of chin-up

From chin + up, but not a deverbal, unlike pull-up. The chin-up and the muscle-up as variations of pulling oneself upward were named later than the pull-up, with influence from its name.

Words formed from chin-up

Phrases with chin-up

Questions about chin-up

What does chin-up mean?
Chin-up means (US) An exercise done for strengthening the arms and back, in which one lifts one's own weight while hanging from a bar. It can be defined more restrictively on criteria like the arms starting at lock-out, or the chin requiring contact with the bottom of the bar, or touching the neck to the bar. Palms may be facing in any direction.
What part of speech is chin-up?
Chin-up is a noun.
How do you pronounce chin-up?
Chin-up is pronounced /ˈtʃɪn.ʌp/ (US).
What is the plural of chin-up?
The plural of chin-up is chin-ups.

Words near chin-up in the dictionary

  1. Chin-men
  2. Chin-sha
  3. Chin-sha Chiang
  4. Chin-sha-chiang
  5. Chin-shih
  6. chin-up
  7. chin-up bar
  8. chin-up bars
  9. chin-ups
  10. chin-wag
  11. chin-wags

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: chin-up (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “chin-up.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/chin-up. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.