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chinos
chime¹ /tʃaɪm/ n 1 the sound made (as if) by a set of bells:
The chime of the clock woke him up. 2 [usually pl.] a set of bells
rung to produce a tune
chime² v 1 [I;T] to (cause to) ring: The church bells
chimed. 2 [T] to show (the time) by ringing: The clock
chimed one o'clock. 3 [I[(TOGETHER, with)]] infml to be in accord-
ance or agreement: Her views on this chime with mine.
chime in phr v [I(with)] infml to interrupt or join in a
conversation by expressing an opinion: He's always ready to
chime in with his opinion. 'I want to come, too,' she chimed
in.
hi-me-ra, -maera /kaɪˈmɪərə, kə-/ n 1 an imaginary
terrible female creature, made up of parts of different ani-
mals, which breathes fire 2 a dream that can never become
true; unreal fancy
hi-mer-i-cal /kaɪˈmɛrɪkəl, kə-/ adj often derog imaginary;
fanciful: chimerical ideas/plans
him-ney /'tʃɪmni/ n 1 a hollow passage often rising above
the roof of a building which allows smoke and gases to pass
from a fire: factory chimneys pouring smoke into the
air 2 tech a narrow passage on a rock face, up which you can
climb 3 a glass tube often wide at the centre and narrow at
the top, that is put around a flame in an oil lamp
him-ney-breast /'tʃɪmnibreast/ n especially BrE the wall
which encloses a chimney and stands out into a room →
compare MANTELPIECE
himney corner n a seat by the side of a large open
fireplace
him-ney-piece /'tʃɪmnipi:s/ n old-fash a wooden or brick
decorative covering fixed onto or built into the wall above
and around the fire; MANTELPIECE
him-ney-pot /'tʃɪmnipɒt||-pɑ:t/ n a short pipe made of
metal or especially EARTHENWARE (=baked clay) fixed to the
top of a chimney
him-ney-stack /'tʃɪmnistæk/ n 1 the tall chimney of a
building such as a factory 2 BrE a group of small chimneys
sticking up from a roof
him-ney-sweep /'tʃɪmni-swi:p/ also sweep infml — n a
person whose job is cleaning the insides of chimneys. In the
past, chimney-sweeps often employed children to climb up
into the chimneys, and often treated them badly. Now they
use special long brushes.
him-pan-zee /tʃɪmpæn'zi:, -pən-/ also chimp /tʃɪmp/
infml — n a dark-haired African APE (=large monkey without a
tail). Chimpanzees are thought to be the most intelligent of
the apes. → see picture at APE
CULTURAL NOTE In British ZOOS in the past, chimps were
often dressed in clothes, sat at tables, and given food to
have a chimpanzees' tea party for people to watch, but
now this is felt to be cruel.
hin /tʃɪn/ n 1 the front part of the face (especially of a
human being) below the mouth: His chin was completely
covered by his beard. | He punched me on the chin. → see also
DOUBLE CHIN; see picture at HEAD 2 (keep one's) chin up
infml to (try to) stay cheerful in a difficult situation: He's
having a pretty rough time but he seems to be keeping his chin
up. | Chin up! Things can't get any worse! → see also
CHINLESS 3 take something on the chin to accept criticism
or a difficult situation without becoming upset: Lewis took
the news on the chin, insisting he was capable of doing better
work. | One of our team's strengths is the ability to take it on
the chin and come out fighting.
hi-na /'tʃaɪnə/ n [U] 1 a hard white substance made by
baking fine clay at high temperatures: china cups 2 also
chi-na-ware /'tʃaɪnəweə/ — plates, cups etc made from
china or a similar substance; CROCKERY: Please put the china
away carefully. → see also BONE CHINA, bull in a china shop
BULL)
hina the largest country in eastern Asia. Population:
1,260,000,000 (2000). Capital: Beijing. China's population is
the largest of any country in the world. It also has one of the
oldest CIVILIZATIONS in the world. For over 2000 years, China
was ruled by a series of powerful families called dynasties
DYNASTY). In 1912 it became a REPUBLIC and in 1949, after a
long war between the Nationalists and the Communists, it
became a Communist state, known as the People's Republic
of China (PRC), which was led for many years by MAO
ZEDONG. More recently, under the leadership of DENG XIAOP-
ING and JIANG ZEMIN, China has achieved a very fast rate of
economic development, and it is now one of the most
important economic and industrial powers in the world.
China 'Sea, the the western part of the Pacific Ocean that
goes along the coast of China and Vietnam
China 'tea n [U] a kind of tea grown in China, dried in
smoke which gives it a special taste
Chi-na-town /'tʃaɪnataʊn/ n [C,U] an area in a city where
there are Chinese shops, restaurants, and clubs, and where
many Chinese people live. The most famous Chinatown is
in the US city of San Francisco.
chin-chil-la /tʃɪn'tʃɪlə/ n [C,U] (the soft pale grey fur of) a
small South American animal like a SQUIRREL with a long tail
Chi-nese /tʃaɪ'ni:z/ n 1 the Chinese [P] the people of
China 2 [U] the language of China, which is also spoken by
people of Chinese origin in many Asian countries. The spo-
ken form of Chinese is very different in different parts of the
country, but the written language is always the same and
can be understood everywhere, because it is written in IDEOGRAMS
(=signs that represent ideas rather than sounds) → see also
CANTONESE, MANDARIN 3 [U] Chinese food: We thought we'd
eat Chinese tonight. 4 [C] BrE infml a restaurant or TAKEAWAY
serving Chinese food: They went to the local Chinese.
—Chinese adj: My neighbours are Chinese. | a valuable
Chinese vase
Chinese 'chequers BrE || Chinese checkers AmE — n
[U] a game in which you move small balls from hole to hole
on a board in the shape of a star
Chinese 'lantern n a small box made of thin paper that
you put a light inside as a decoration
Chinese 'leaves n [U] a type of CABBAGE eaten especially
in East Asia
Chinese 'medicine n [U] traditional methods of prevent-
ing and treating illness which were developed in China and
are still used there. These may include eating special foods,
taking medicines made from HERBS and ACUPUNCTURE
(=putting needles into certain parts of the body). In the US
and UK, Chinese medicine is a form of ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE.
Chinese 'wall n a system used by financial or business
organizations to stop information from being passed from
one department to another, especially in order to prevent
INSIDER TRADING
Chinese 'whispers n [U] BrE a game in which someone
thinks of a sentence which they WHISPER (=say very quietly)
to someone else. That person then whispers the sentence to
a third person, and so on until the last person has been told.
The last person then tells the group the sentence, which is
usually completely different from the original sentence, and
this makes people laugh. The usual American name for this
game is telephone.
Chin-gach-gook /tʃɪn'gɑ:tʃgʊk/ a character in several
books by James Fenimore COOPER, such as The Last of the
Mohicans. He is a Native American chief.
chink¹ /tʃɪŋk/ n [(in)] 1 [C] a narrow crack or opening: He
watched the girls through a chink in the wall. 2 [C] a narrow
beam (of light) shining through such a crack: a chink of
light in the darkness of the room 3 [C] a small but dangerous
fault or weakness: a tiny chink in his argument | She prepared
for the talks very carefully, knowing that any chink in her
armour (=weaknesses in her defence or argument) would be
seized upon. 4 [S] the sound of chinking (CHINK): I heard the
chink of glasses next door.
chink² v [I;T] to make a high sound like that of glasses hitting
each other; CLINK
Chink-ie, Chinky /'tʃɪŋki/ n BrE infml taboo a very offensive
word for a Chinese person
chin-less /'tʃɪnləs/ adj 1 having a chin that is small or
slopes inwards 2 BrE infml weak and cowardly
chinless 'wonder n BrE slang a man from an upper-class
family who appears to be rather stupid
chi-nos /'tʃi:nəʊz/ n [P] trousers made from chino, a strong
cotton material. They are produced in many different col-
ours and are very popular, especially with young men,
because they are usually inexpensive. → see PAIR (USAGE)