chop house

Preserved but no longer current.

Meaning · English

An eating-house where chops and steaks are served. I dine at the Chop-House three days a week, where the good company wonders they never see you of late.— STEELE: Spectator, No. 308 (22 Feb., 1712).

Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)

Sources & notes

Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.

Common questions

What does “chop house” mean?

An eating-house where chops and steaks are served. I dine at the Chop-House three days a week, where the good company wonders they never see you of late.— STEELE: Spectator, No. 308 (22 Feb., 1712).

Is “chop house” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.