Past tense of chomp: to bite or chew vigorously and noisily, often with eager or aggressive intent.
From the imitative root 'chomp,' likely a variant of 'champ,' which dates back to the 1500s as an onomatopoeia mimicking the sound of teeth biting down forcefully.
Chomp perfectly demonstrates how English loves sound-based words—'chomp' actually sounds like what it means, which is why children instinctively understand it before learning formal vocabulary.
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