Meanings
plural chin-ups
- hobbiesAn exercise done for strengthening the arms and back, in which one lifts one's own weight while hanging from a bar. It can be defined more restrictively on criteria like the arms starting at lock-out, or the chin requiring contact with the bottom of the bar, or touching the neck to the bar. Palms may be facing in any direction.
Compare the actions of the humerus during the performance of a chin-up with supinated grip with those during the performance of a chin-up with pronated grip. Are the chin-ups alike or different with respect to muscle involvement?
1973 Marilyn M. Hinson, Kinesiology, page 63
Synonyms & antonyms
nounan arm exercise performed by pulling yourself up on a horizontal bar until your chin is level with the bar
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From chin + up, but not a deverbal, unlike pull-up. The chin-up and the muscle-up as variations of pulling oneself upward were named later than the pull-up, with influence from its name.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
chin-up. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chin-up
“chin-up.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chin-up. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “chin-up,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chin-up.
Source: chin-up on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.