What does chowed mean?
Chowed is the simple past tense of 'chow', an informal English verb meaning to eat, most often used in the phrase 'chow down'. When someone says they chowed on pizza or chowed down on burgers, they mean they ate it — typically quickly, heartily, and without ceremony. The word carries a casual, sometimes playful connotation, making it at home in conversation, sports commentary, and food writing but not in formal prose. It is closely related to 'chow' as a noun for food, a term that entered English through contact with Chinese pidgin in the eighteenth or nineteenth century, and it is etymologically distinct from the word 'cow' despite a superficial resemblance to 'cowed', which means intimidated. Because it signals hearty, unpretentious eating, 'chowed' is useful when you want to describe a meal with energy and humor rather than formality.
verbPast tense of the verb 'chow': to eat, especially heartily or informally ('chow down').
- To have eaten something, especially casually or heartily (past tense of 'chow', usually in the phrase 'chow down').
"We chowed on burgers and fries after the game."
"The kids chowed down on pizza as soon as they got home from practice."
"After hiking all morning, we chowed on sandwiches by the lake."
'Chow' comes from Chinese pidgin — the same word that gave us 'chow mein' and the fluffy Chow dog.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of chowed
The verb 'chow' derives from the noun 'chow' meaning food, which English picked up via Chinese pidgin from a Cantonese- or Pidgin-derived term during trade with China, likely in the eighteenth or nineteenth century. It spread through sailors' slang and later American colloquial speech, giving rise to phrases like 'chow down' and words like 'chowhound'. It is unrelated to the Latin root behind 'cowed'; the resemblance is coincidental. Cognates in this family are other borrowings from the same Chinese food term, such as 'chow mein'.
Related word forms
How chowed is actually used
Informal register only — out of place in formal writing. Almost always appears in the phrase 'chowed down (on)' in American English.
Easily confused with chowed
'Cowed' means intimidated or subdued into fear, while 'chowed' refers simply to eating.
'Chow' is the base form of the word (also a noun meaning food or the dog breed), whereas 'chowed' is its past tense.