chap

v. i. 1. To crack or open in slits; as, the earth chaps; the hands chap. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To strike; to knock; to rap. [ Scot. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ See Cheapen. ] To bargain; to buy. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Perh. abbreviated fr. chapman, but used in a more general sense; or cf. Dan. kiæft jaw, person, E. chap jaw. ] 1. A buyer; a chapman. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

If you want to sell, here is your chap. Steele. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A man or boy; a youth; a fellow. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. chaft; of Scand. origin; cf. Icel kjaptr jaw, Sw. Käft, D. kiæft; akin to G. kiefer, and E. jowl. Cf. Chops. ] 1. One of the jaws or the fleshy covering of a jaw; -- commonly in the plural, and used of animals, and colloquially of human beings. [ 1913 Webster ]

His chaps were all besmeared with crimson blood. Cowley. [ 1913 Webster ]

He unseamed him [ Macdonald ] from the nave to the chaps. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. One of the jaws or cheeks of a vise, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Chapped p. pr. & vb. n. Chapping. ] [ See Chop to cut. ] 1. To cause to open in slits or chinks; to split; to cause the skin of to crack or become rough. [ 1913 Webster ]

Then would unbalanced heat licentious reign,
Crack the dry hill, and chap the russet plain. Blackmore. [ 1913 Webster ]

Nor winter's blast chap her fair face. Lyly. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To strike; to beat. [ Scot. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. pl. [ Mex. Sp. ] Overalls of sheepskin or leather, usually open at the back, worn, esp. by cowboys, to protect the legs from thorny bushes, as in the chaparral; -- called also chapareras or colloq. chaps. [ Sp. Amer. ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

‖n. pl. [ Mex. Sp. ] Same as Chaparajos. [ Sp. Amer. ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

‖n. [ Sp., fr. chaparro an evergeen oak. ] 1. A thicket of low evergreen oaks. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An almost impenetrable thicket or succession of thickets of thorny shrubs and brambles. [ 1913 Webster ]

Chaparral cock; fem.
Chaparral hen (Zool.), a bird of the cuckoo family (Geococcyx Californianus), noted for running with great speed. It ranges from California to Mexico and eastward to Texas; -- called also road runner, ground cuckoo, churea, and snake killer. It is the state bird of New Mexico. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]