chaps

[ chaps, shaps ]
See synonyms for chaps on Thesaurus.com
noun(used with a plural verb)
  1. a pair of joined leather leggings, often widely flared, worn over trousers, especially by cowboys, as protection against burs, rope burns, etc., while on horseback.

Origin of chaps

1
1810–20, Americanism; short for chaparajos

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use chaps in a sentence

  • She unbuttoned the flap on a pocket of her chaparejos, and handed him a small parcel wrapped in sky-blue paper.

    The Heritage of the Hills | Arthur P. Hankins
  • Old Man Selden balanced his glass on one peaked knee while he reached into a pocket of his chaparejos for a plug of tobacco.

    The Heritage of the Hills | Arthur P. Hankins
  • He took a pair of leather chaparejos from the bed, regarded them doubtfully and threw them back.

    Stepsons of Light | Eugene Manlove Rhodes
  • Why, a tide that washes up to a wayfarer's feet a pair o' chaparejos like that—well!

    The Magnetic North | Elizabeth Robins (C. E. Raimond)
  • Anybody must needs be a devil of a fellow who went about in "shaps," as his California cousins called chaparejos.

    The Magnetic North | Elizabeth Robins (C. E. Raimond)

British Dictionary definitions for chaps

chaps

/ (tʃæps, ʃæps) /


pl n
  1. leather overalls without a seat, worn by cowboys: Also called: chaparejos, chaparajos

Origin of chaps

1
C19: shortened from chaparejos

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012