Collins Dictionaries - Collins Primary Illustrated Dictionary

chat chats, chatting, chatted

NOUN 1 a friendly talk with someone

VERB 2 When people chat, they talk to each other in a friendly way about things that are not very important.

chatty ADJECTIVE

chatroom chatrooms

NOUN an internet site where users have discussions using e-mail

chatter chatters, chattering, chattered

VERB 1 When people chatter, they talk about unimportant things.

2 If your teeth chatter, they knock together and make a clicking noise because you are cold.

chauffeur chauffeurs

NOUN a person whose job is to drive another person’s car • He had a chauffeur to drive him everywhere.

cheap cheaper, cheapest

ADJECTIVE 1 Something that is cheap costs very little money.

2 Cheap sometimes means of poor quality.

cheaply ADVERB

cheat cheats, cheating, cheated

VERB If someone cheats in a game or exam, they break the rules in order to do better.

check checks, checking, checked

VERB 1 If you check something, you examine it to make sure that everything is all right. • Check your work carefully when you finish.

NOUN 2 an inspection to make sure that everything is all right

3 Checks are different coloured squares that form a pattern.

checkout checkouts

NOUN the place in a supermarket where you pay for your goods

cheek cheeks

NOUN 1 Your cheeks are the sides of your face below your eyes.

2 speech or behaviour that is rude and disrespectful • Their grandparents won’t stand any cheek from them.

cheeky ADJECTIVE cheekily ADVERB

cheer cheers, cheering, cheered

VERB When people cheer, they shout loudly and happily. • We cheered our team when they won.

cheerful

ADJECTIVE A cheerful person is happy.

cheerfully ADVERB

cheese cheeses

NOUN a solid savoury food made from milk

cheetah cheetahs

NOUN a wild mammal like a large cat with black spots, mainly found in Africa

[from Sanskrit citra + kaya meaning speckled body]

chef chefs

NOUN a head cook in a restaurant or hotel

[from French chef meaning head]

chemical chemicals

NOUN 1 a substance made by the use of chemistry • Dangerous chemicals should be handled carefully.

ADJECTIVE 2 involved in chemistry or using chemicals • a chemical reaction

chemist chemists

NOUN a shop that sells medicines and cosmetics

chemistry

NOUN the scientific study of substances and the ways in which they change when they are combined

cheque cheques

NOUN a printed piece of paper that people can use to pay for things

cherry cherries

NOUN a small, juicy fruit with a red, yellow or black skin and a hard stone in the centre

chess

NOUN a game played on a board with 64 squares. Each player has 16 pieces.

chest chests

NOUN 1 the front part of your body between your shoulders and your waist

2 a large wooden box used for storing things

chestnut chestnuts

NOUN 1 a reddish-brown nut that grows inside a prickly, green outer covering

2 the tree that produces these nuts

ADJECTIVE 3 Something that is chestnut is reddish-brown in colour.

chew chews, chewing, chewed

VERB When you chew something, you use your teeth to break it up in your mouth before swallowing it.

chewing gum

NOUN a kind of sweet that you chew for a long time, but which you do not swallow

chick chicks

NOUN a young bird

chicken chickens

NOUN a bird kept on a farm for its eggs and meat; also the meat of this bird

chickenpox

NOUN an illness that causes a fever and blister-like spots to appear on the skin

chief chiefs

NOUN 1 the leader of a group or organization

ADJECTIVE 2 main or most important

chilblain chilblains

NOUN a sore, itchy swelling on a finger or toe, which causes discomfort in cold weather

child children

NOUN 1 a young person who is not yet an adult

SYNONYMS: kid, youngster

2 Someone’s child is their son or daughter.

childhood childhoods

NOUN Your childhood is the time when you are a child.

childish

ADJECTIVE If someone is childish, they are not acting in an adult way.

ANTONYM: adult

childishly ADVERB

childminder childminders

NOUN a person who is paid to look after children while their parents are at work

children

PLURAL NOUN the plural of child

chill chills, chilling, chilled

VERB 1 When you chill something, you make it cold. • Chill the orange juice before you drink it.

NOUN 2 a feverish cold

3 a feeling of cold • the chill of early morning

chilli chillies

NOUN the red or green seed pod of a type of pepper that has a very hot, spicy taste

chilly chillier, chilliest

ADJECTIVE 1 Chilly weather is rather cold.

2 If people behave in a chilly way, they are not very friendly.

chime chimes, chiming, chimed

VERB 1 When a bell chimes, it makes a clear ringing sound.

NOUN 2 Chimes are a set of bells or other objects that make ringing sounds.

chimney chimneys

NOUN a pipe above a fireplace or furnace through which smoke from the fire can escape

chimpanzee chimpanzees

NOUN a small ape with dark fur that lives in forests in Africa

chin chins

NOUN the part of your face below your mouth

china

NOUN plates, cups, saucers and other dishes that are made from fine clay

chink chinks

NOUN 1 a small, narrow opening • a chink in the fence

2 a small ringing sound, like glasses touching each other

chip chips, chipping, chipped

NOUN 1 Chips are thin strips of fried potato.

2 a tiny piece of silicon inside a computer, which is used to form electronic circuits • computer chips

VERB 3 If you chip an object, you break a small piece off it.

chirp chirps, chirping, chirped

VERB When a bird chirps, it makes a short, high-pitched sound.

chisel chisels, chiselling, chiselled

NOUN 1 a tool with a long metal blade and a sharp edge at the end. Chisels are used for cutting and shaping wood, stone or metal.

VERB 2 If you chisel wood, stone or metal, you cut or shape it using a chisel.

chlorine

NOUN a poisonous greenish-yellow gas with a strong, unpleasant smell. It is used to disinfect water and to make bleach.

chocolate chocolates

NOUN a sweet food made from cocoa beans

[from Aztec xococ + atl meaning bitter water]

choice choices

NOUN 1 a range of different things that are available to choose from

SYNONYMS: range, variety

2 something that you choose • You made a good choice when you bought this book.

choir choirs

NOUN a group of singers, for example in a church

choke chokes, choking, choked

VERB If you choke on something, it prevents you from breathing properly. • He choked on a fish bone.

cholesterol

NOUN a substance found in all animal fats, tissues and blood

choose chooses, choosing, chose, chosen

VERB If you choose something, you decide to have it or do it.

SYNONYMS: pick, select

chop chops, chopping, chopped

VERB 1 If you chop something, you cut it with quick, heavy strokes using an axe or a knife. • Mum chopped the logs for firewood.

NOUN 2 a small piece of pork or lamb that contains a bone • We had chops and broccoli for dinner.

choppy

ADJECTIVE When the sea or a stretch of water is choppy, there are a lot of waves on it because it is windy.

chopstick chopsticks

NOUN Chopsticks are a pair of thin sticks used for eating Chinese and Japanese food.