lick chops


lick (one's) chops

To show one's impatience or excitement to do something. That roast smells so good—I'm just about licking my chops in here! My detractors were practically licking their chops when they heard that my proposal had failed.See also: chops, lick

lick one's chops

Fig. to show one's eagerness to do something, especially to eat something. We could tell from the way the boys were licking their chops that they really wanted a turn at riding the motorcycle. Fred started licking his chops when he smelled the turkey roasting in the oven.See also: chops, lick

lick (one's) chops

To anticipate delightedly.See also: chops, lick

lick one's chops, to

To anticipate something with obvious pleasure. The word chops (or chaps) has meant the jaws or mouth since about 1350, usually referring to the lower jaw of animals. This meaning survives in the current cliché, as well as in musicians’ slang for the embouchure of wind instruments. In jazz slang of the 1930s and 1940s, licking one’s chops meant warming up before a performance. In jazz parlance chops also came to mean ability or skill, a usage from the 1960s.See also: lick