Meaning

noun cut of meat or fish including at least part of the backbone

noun backbone of an animal

verb cut through the backbone of an animal

originFrom Middle English chynen (“to crack, fissure, split”), from Old English ċīnan (“to break into pieces, burst, crack”), from Proto-West Germanic *kīnan, from Proto-Germanic *kīnaną (“to split; crack; germinate; sprout”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0