chomp

jargon To lose; specifically, to chew on something of

which more was bitten off than one can. Probably related to

gnashing of teeth.

See bagbiter.

A hand gesture commonly accompanies this. To perform it, hold

the four fingers together and place the thumb against their

tips. Now open and close your hand rapidly to suggest a

biting action (much like what Pac-Man does in the classic

video game, though this pantomime seems to predate that). The

gesture alone means "chomp chomp" (see Verb Doubling). The

hand may be pointed at the object of complaint, and for real

emphasis you can use both hands at once. Doing this to a

person is equivalent to saying "You chomper!" If you point

the gesture at yourself, it is a humble but humorous admission

of some failure. You might do this if someone told you that a

program you had written had failed in some surprising way and

you felt dumb for not having anticipated it.

(1996-06-01)