Chop Suey Definition & Meaning

American

British

Etymology

Examples

chop suey American [chop-soo-ee] / ˈtʃɒpˈsu i / Or chop sooy

noun

1. a Chinese-style American dish consisting of small pieces of meat, chicken, etc., cooked together with bean sprouts, onions, mushrooms, or other vegetables and seasoning, in a gravy, often served with rice and soy sauce.

chop suey British / ˈsuːɪ /

noun

1. a Chinese-style dish originating in the US, consisting of meat or chicken, bean sprouts, etc, stewed and served with rice

"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

Etymology

Origin of chop suey

1885–90, < dialectal Chinese (Guangdong) jaahp seui mixed bits, akin to Chinese zá suì

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Since 1959, they’ve come for Chinese American classics such as sweet and sour chicken, barbecued pork chow mein, egg rolls, chop suey and shrimp fried rice.

From Los Angeles Times

Customers occupied almost every table and banquette, many chowing down the restaurant’s signature chop suey — which, like a lot of food served at the Chicago Cafe, is a Chinese American dish unfamiliar in China itself.

From Los Angeles Times

She could drive there every afternoon from her home in North Hills and drop off his favorite meals: KFC, El Pollo Loco and homemade chop suey.

From Los Angeles Times

Under a red neon sign advertising “chop suey,” a line of customers often forms.

From New York Times

His restaurant is not Cantonese American in the sense used to describe chop suey and other dishes that Cantonese cooks came up with to appease other people’s palates.

From New York Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.