Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. a woman.

1974		Fuentes & Lopez Barrio Lang. Dict. 43: chavala Young female. Girlfriend. A daughter.
1993		A. Rodriguez Spidertown (1994) 137: Have you told this magic chava about all this?
1995		L. Stavsky et al. A2Z 18/2: He be scopin’ all the chavalas in el Barrio.

2. (also chavalla, chavalo) a derog. term for a man, implying he is emasculated.

1974		Fuentes & Lopez Barrio Lang. Dict. 43: chavalo A boy. A son.
1992		Bentley & Corbett Prison Sl. 52: Chava A degrading expression which means that a man is a wimp.
2001		J. Stahl Plainclothes Naked (2002) 38: Oh my God [...] America’s Most Wanted! You killed that chavalla with a shovel.