chamba
Short answer
In Lima, "chamba" means work, a job. The register is coloquial — fine among friends, out of place in a job interview or anything written to an institution. The standard Spanish equivalent is "trabajo, empleo". In use: Estoy buscando chamba.
| Part of speech | sustantivo |
|---|---|
| Register | coloquial |
| Standard Spanish | trabajo, empleo |
| In use | Estoy buscando chamba. I'm looking for work. |
Draft entry — needs a native-speaker check before publishing.
Chambear is the verb — to work. Widely used in Peru and Mexico. Informal but not crude; you would hear it between colleagues, not in a cover letter.