Pronounced chirp. Short for Common Hardware Reference Platform, a specification for PowerPC -based machines that can run the Mac OS, Windows NT, or AIX. First released in 1996, CHRP was supposed to make it possible for computer vendors to build Macintoshclones as well as PowerPC-based NT computers.
FirmWork's CHRP documentation page Contains links to various CHRP specifications and a number of related documents (including FirmWork's Open Firmware binding documents).