noun / verb
chap
A sore crack in the skin, or to cause such cracking.
Cold dry wind chaps her lips during the long winter walk.
Etymology
From a verb for splitting or cracking. Chapped skin preserves that physical sense; the person-word chap has a different origin.
More examples
- A painful chap split the skin on his knuckle.
- Her hands had chapped in the bitter weather.
- He wore gloves to keep the wind from chapping his skin.
Forms
chap · chaps · chapped · chapping
Similar words
- crack
- Crack is a general split; chap specifically concerns sore cracking of skin.