chopstick
UK/ˈt͡ʃɒp.stɪk//ˈt͡ʃɑp.stɪk/
chopstick noun: an East Asian eating utensil typically used as a pair held in one hand to grip food items, mix liquids, or scoop food out of a bowl. The utensil is a stick, usually made of wood, and measuring approximately 23 cm (10 inches) in length.
Noun
chopstick (plural chopsticks)
- An East Asian eating utensil typically used as a pair held in one hand to grip food items, mix liquids, or scoop food out of a bowl. The utensil is a stick, usually made of wood, and measuring approximately 23 cm (10 inches) in length.
- Then broughtt they us some henne cutt in small peeces and Fresh porcke Don in like Manner, giving us Choppsticks to eatt our Meat, butt wee knew not how to use them, soe imployed our Fingers. [...] Having before mentioned Chopstickes, I will Describe a ordinary Fellow, as boatmen, etts., how hee...1637, Peter Mundy, Diary; in Richard Carnac Temple, editor, The English Factory in Japan, 1613–1623: Volume I, Cambridge: The Hakluyt Society, 1919, page 194
- All the Tonquineses keep many of these Sticks in their Houses, as well for their own use, as to entertain Strangers at meals: they are as ordinarily placed at the Table here, as Knives, Forks, and Spoons are in England: and a man that cannot dextrously handle these instruments, makes but an odd...1697, William Dampier, A New Voyage Round the World, London: James Knapton, page 85
- An Asian person.
- When was in Hampshire the other day, a chop-stick, who came to my lodging to talk to me about the mode of harvesting and preserving the corn, and who soon diverged into a talk about the Reform Bill, said, "And this cholera morbus, sir, don't you think it's a sort of a shoshoy to frighten us out of...1832 April 11, The Launceston Advertiser, Tasmania, page 119, column 2
- Every horse you possess having no action, or which a day's journey would knock up, (to be found in lots far more numerous than the Chinamen as yet,) ought to be turned out to fatten; when plump, take the animal into the nearest station, occupied by these chopsticks.1852 March 13, The Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser, NSW, page 4, column 3
- A long straight stick used to keep baited hooks separated in deep-sea fishing tackle.
- I pray pardon me for that Capt' Adams' hast to goe downe causeth me to be breefer then I would, wishing you to luffe as fast as you can in the heigh of hogg faces, for these climates of Meaco yeald nothinge but shirrow & chopp-stickes.1615 October 23, Richard Wickham, letter; in Anthony Farrington, editor, The English Factory in Japan, 1613-1623: Volume I, London: The British Library, 1991, page 330
- The Fisherman has a Line of 90 Fathom long, or more, with a Lead at the end of it called a Deep-sea-lead, of about 6 or 7 pounds weight, to sink it; above which is a cross-stick, termed a Chop-stick, with 2 Lines and Hooks at them, with Baits[.]1726, Nathan Bailey, Dictionarium Rusticum, Urbanicum and Botanicum, London: James and John Knapton et al., page s.v. Iceland
Verb
chopstick (third-person singular simple present chopsticks, present participle chopsticking, simple past and past participle chopsticked or (rare) chopstuck)
- To pick up (food), or eat, using chopsticks, or as with chopsticks.
- Then, holding his plate close to his mouth, he chopsticked it in with his fork, and, with tremendous gusto, called for more.1895, Douglas Sladen, The Japs at Home, London: Ward, Lock & Co., page 101
- For a while I chopsticked in silence. Gathering up loose grains of rice between the points of two small sticks is a job requiring absolute quiet and concentration.1915 November 13, The Southern Churchman, Richmond, Va., page 14, column 1
- To fish using a tackle with a chopstick.
- Plaice, and flat fish of all kinds, are taken from the jetties at Yarmouth; and, by taking a boat, good sport may be had chopsticking for marckerel, whiting, and haddock, large quantities of these fish being caught here by this popular method.1892, Ernest R. Suffling, The Land of the Broads, Stratford: Benjiman Perry, page 306
chopstick meaning in Hindi, Marathi, Bengali and Kannada
chopstick in Hindi
- single eating utensil
- चीनी काँटा cīnī kā̃ṭā
chopstick in Marathi
- single eating utensil
- चॉपस्टिक cŏpasṭik
chopstick in Bengali
- single eating utensil
- হাশি haśi
chopstick in Kannada
- ಅಟ್ಟುಗ
More languagesFewer languages
- chopstick in Gujarati
- ચોપસ્ટિક્સ copasṭiks
- chopstick in Tagalog
- sipit-Intsik, sipit ng Intsik, ipit-ipit
- chopstick in Arabic
- أَعْوَاد الْأَكْل ʔaʕwād al-ʔakl, هَاشِي hāšī, عَصَا الْأَكْل ʕaṣā l-ʔakl
- chopstick in Malay
- penyepit, sepit
- chopstick in Indonesian
- sumpit, penyepit, penjepit, sepit
- chopstick in Thai
- ตะเกียบ dtà-gìiap
- chopstick in Vietnamese
- đũa, đũa cả
- chopstick in Myanmar
- တူ tu
Examples of chopstick in a sentence
- Hee thrusts, Crammes and stuffes it full of the said Rice with the Chopsticks in exceedingly hasty Manner untill it will hold No more.1637, Peter Mundy, Diary; in Richard Carnac Temple, editor, The English Factory in Japan, 1613–1623: Volume I, Cambridge: The Hakluyt...
- In China also these things are constantly used: they are called by the English Seamen Chopsticks.1697, William Dampier, A New Voyage Round the World, London: James Knapton, page 85:
- These Sticks are called by the Chinese Quay-tse, and by some of our Voyagers Chopsticks, which they manage so dexterously that they can take up a grain of rice with them.1761, Hau Kiou Choaan, or, The Pleasing History, London: R. and J. Dodson, page 192:
- When not used, the chopsticks must be laid on the table, side by side, exactly pointing away from the individual[.]1850, Walter Henry Medhurst, A Glance at the Interior of China, Obtained During a journey through the Silk and Green Tea Districts, London...
Forms of chopstick
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | chopsticks |
| alternative form | chop-stick |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | chopsticks |
| present participle | chopsticking |
| past participle | chopsticked |
| past | chopsticked |
| past participle (rare) | chopstuck |
| past (rare) | chopstuck |
Origin of chopstick
Apparently a compound of chop + stick, but the sense of the first element is not clear. The term was earliest applied to fishing tackle (from 1615), later being transferred to the dining utensil (attested since 1637) driven by their visual resemblance. The commonly held derivation from Chinese Pidgin English chop(-chop) (“quick”), a supposed calque from Chinese 筷子 (kuàizi, “chopstick, literally, ‘little quick ones’”), derived from 快 (kuài, “quick”), is chronologically impossible as Chinese Pidgin English did not come into existence until the 18th century.
Words formed from chopstick
Phrases with chopstick
Questions about chopstick
- What does chopstick mean?
- Chopstick means an East Asian eating utensil typically used as a pair held in one hand to grip food items, mix liquids, or scoop food out of a bowl. The utensil is a stick, usually made of wood, and measuring approximately 23 cm (10 inches) in length.
- What is chopstick in Hindi?
- Chopstick in Hindi is चीनी काँटा (cīnī kā̃ṭā). See Chopstick meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use chopstick in a sentence?
- Hee thrusts, Crammes and stuffes it full of the said Rice with the Chopsticks in exceedingly hasty Manner untill it will hold No more.
- What part of speech is chopstick?
- Chopstick can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce chopstick?
- Chopstick is pronounced /ˈt͡ʃɒp.stɪk/ (UK).
- What is the plural of chopstick?
- The plural of chopstick is chopsticks.
Words near chopstick in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: chopstick (page history and authors); chopstick (Kannada Wiktionary) (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:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-chopstick.ogg.
Cite this entry: “chopstick.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/chopstick. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.