1876. C. Hindley, Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 140. I
purchased, or more properly speaking, had a chop with a wooden bowl
maker from Chesham.
Verb (colloquial).—1. To exchange; to barter: as, to chop logic = to
give argument for argument; and to chop stories = to ‘cap’ one anecdote
with another. Also to change quarters: as ‘the wind chopped round to
the north.’ Cf., Swap.
1554. Latimer, wks. (1845), II., 433. Shall we go about to chop
away this good occasion, which God offereth us. [m.]
1693. Shadwell, Volunteers, IV. (1720), iv., 467. Horses that are
jades ... may be chopt away or sold in Smithfield. [m.]
1871. City Press, Jan. 21. ‘Curiosities of Street Literature.’ He
hangs out in Monmouth-court, And wears a pair of blue-black
breeches, Where all the ‘Polly Cox’s crew’ do resort, To chop their
swag for badly-printed dying speeches.