English

Proper noun

Champ

1. (cryptozoology) A large aquatic creature, similar to the Loch Ness monster, which supposedly lives in Lake Champlain, located on the shared borders of the American states of Vermont and New York and the Canadian province of Quebec.

English

Pronunciation

• (US, UK, General American, Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /t͡ʃæmp/
• Rhymes: -æmp

Noun

champ ‎(plural champs)

1. (countable) shortened form of champion

Derived terms

• octochamp

Etymology 2

Uncertain, probably imitative

champ (etymology 2, noun)

Pronunciation

• (US, UK, General American, Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /t͡ʃæmp/
• Rhymes: -æmp

Noun

champ ‎(countable and uncountable, plural champs)

1. (Ireland, uncountable) a meal of mashed potatoes and scallions

Verb

champ ‎(third-person singular simple present champs, present participle champing, simple past and past participle champed)

1. (transitive, intransitive) to bite or chew, especially noisily or impatiently.
   • Hooker

     They began […] irefully to champ upon the bit.

   • Dryden

     Foamed and champed the golden bit.

   • 1938, Xavier Herbert, Capricornia, New York: D. Appleton-Century, 1943, Chapter XII, p. 200,

     He was mad, reeling about and gesticulating at the rushing train, and champing and gurgling like a lunatic.

   • 1951, Isaac Asimov, Foundation (1974 Panther Books Ltd publication), part V: “The Merchant Princes”, chapter 13, page 166, ¶ 18

     The man beside him placed a cigar between Mallow’s teeth and lit it. He champed on one of his own and said, “You must be overworked. Maybe you need a long rest.”

Translations

Derived terms

• champ at the bit
• chomp

Etymology 3

From champagne by shortening.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʃæmp/

Noun

champ ‎(uncountable)

1. (informal) champagne
   • 1990, Ann Heller, "Prom Nights Often Offer Students Primer On Fine Dining", Dayton Daily News, 6 April 1990:

     "They're dressed up very elegantly and it's nice they have a glass of champ, even if it's non-alcoholic," Reif says.

   • 2009, The Lonely Island (featuring T-Pain), "I'm on a Boat", Incredibad:

     We're drinkin' Santana champ, 'cause it's so crisp

   • 2010, Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, Inheritance, Pan Books (2010), ISBN 9780330513265, unnumbered page:

     'Glass of champ?' she called, skipping into the kitchen.

Etymology 4

French champ ‎(“field”)

Alternative forms

• champe (obsolete?)

Noun

champ ‎(plural champs)

1. (architecture) the field or ground on which carving appears in relief

References

• Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, Massachusetts, G.&C. Merriam Co., 1967

French

champ

Etymology

From Old French champ, from Latin campus ‎(“field”). See camp.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʃɑ̃/
• Homophones: champs, chant, chants
• Hyphenation: champ

Noun

champ m ‎(plural champs)

1. field in its various senses, including:
   • 1876, "C" in the Encyclopædia Britannica, 9th ed., Vol. IV, p. 616:

     ...before a in French an original c has the sound sh, and is spelt ch, as in champ (campus), chambre (camera).

   1. a wide open space
   2. an area of study
   3. (mathematics) a commutative ring with identity for which every nonzero element has a multiplicative inverse
   4. (heraldry) the background of a shield's design

Derived terms

Related terms

• camp
• campagne
• campanile
• campus
• champagne
• champêtre

Old French

Alternative forms

• chanp
• camp (Old Northern French)

Etymology

From Latin campus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tʃãmp/

Noun

champ m ‎(oblique plural chans, nominative singular chans, nominative plural champ)

1. field
2. (by extension) battlefield

Descendants

• French: champ

Scots

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [tʃam], [tʃamp], [dʒam], [dʒamp]

Verb

champ ‎(third-person singular present champs, present participle champin, past champit, past participle champit)

1. to mash, crush, pound
2. to chew voraciously

Derived terms

• champer ‎(“an implement for mashing or crushing etc., a pestle”)
• champers ‎(“mashed potatoes”)

Noun

champ ‎(plural champs)

1. (geography) a stretch of ground trodden into a miry state, a quagmire