chip

¹ American  

[chip] / tʃɪp /

noun

1. a small, slender piece, as of wood, separated by chopping, cutting, or breaking.

2. a very thin slice or small piece of food, candy, etc..

   chocolate chips.

3. a mark or flaw made by the breaking off or gouging out of a small piece.

   This glass has a chip.

4. any of the small round disks, usually of plastic or ivory, used as tokens for money in certain gambling games, as roulette or poker; counter.

5. Also called microchip.  Electronics. a tiny slice of semiconducting material, generally in the shape of a square a few millimeters long, cut from a larger wafer of the material, on which a transistor or an entire integrated circuit is formed.

6. a small cut or uncut piece of a diamond or crystal.

7. anything trivial or worthless.

8. something dried up or without flavor.

9. a piece of dried dung.

   buffalo chips.

10. wood, straw, etc., in thin strips for weaving into hats, baskets, etc.

11. Golf. chip shot.

12. Tennis. a softly sliced return shot with heavy backspin.

13. the strip of material removed by a recording stylus as it cuts the grooves in a record.

14. Chiefly British. chips, French fries.

---

verb (used with object)

chipped, chipping

1. to hew or cut with an ax, chisel, etc.

2. to cut, break off, or gouge out (bits or fragments).

   He chipped a few pieces of ice from the large cube.

3. to disfigure by breaking off a fragment.

   to chip the edge of a saucer.

4. to shape or produce by cutting or flaking away pieces.

   to chip a figure out of wood.

5. Games. to bet by means of chips, as in poker.

6. Tennis. to slice (a ball) on a return shot, causing it to have heavy backspin.

7. Slang. to take (a narcotic drug) occasionally, especially only in sufficient quantity to achieve a mild euphoria.

8. Chiefly British Sports. to hit or kick (a ball) a short distance forward.

9. British Slang. to jeer or criticize severely; deride; taunt.

10. Australian. to hoe; harrow.

verb (used without object)

chipped, chipping

1. to break off in small pieces.

2. Golf. to make a chip shot.

verb phrase

1. chip in

   1. to contribute money or assistance; participate.

   2. Games. to bet a chip or chips, as in poker.

   3. to interrupt a conversation to say something; butt in.

      We all chipped in with our suggestions for the reunion.

idioms

1. chip on one's shoulder, a disposition to quarrel.

   You will never make friends if you go around with a chip on your shoulder.

2. chip off the old block, a person who resembles one parent in appearance or behavior.

   His son is just a chip off the old block.

3. in the chips, wealthy; rich.

   Don't look down on your old friends now that you're in the chips.

4. when the chips are down, in a discouraging or disadvantageous situation; in bad or pressing times.

   When the chips are down he proves to be a loyal friend.

chip ² American  

[chip] / tʃɪp /

verb (used without object)

chipped, chipping

1. to utter a short chirping or squeaking sound; cheep.

---

noun

1. a short chirping or squeaking cry.

chip ³ American  

[chip] / tʃɪp /

noun

Wrestling.

1. a tricky or special method by which an opponent can be thrown.

---

chip British  

/ tʃɪp /

noun

1. a small piece removed by chopping, cutting, or breaking

2. a mark left after a small piece has been chopped, cut, or broken off something

3. (in some games) a counter used to represent money

4. a thin strip of potato fried in deep fat

5. Also called (in Britain and certain other countries): crisp.  a very thin slice of potato fried and eaten cold as a snack

6. a small piece or thin slice of food

7. sport a shot, kick, etc, lofted into the air, esp over an obstacle or an opposing player's head, and travelling only a short distance

8. electronics a tiny wafer of semiconductor material, such as silicon, processed to form a type of integrated circuit or component such as a transistor

9. a thin strip of wood or straw used for making woven hats, baskets, etc

10. a container for soft fruit, made of thin sheets of wood; punnet

11. informal inexpensive; good value

12. informal a person who resembles one of his or her parents in behaviour

13. informal to be aggressively sensitive about a particular thing or bear a grudge

14. informal to be defeated, condemned to die, killed, etc

15. informal at a time of crisis or testing

---

verb

1. to break small pieces from or become broken off in small pieces

   will the paint chip?

2. (tr) to break or cut into small pieces

   to chip ice

3. (tr) to shape by chipping

4. sport to strike or kick (a ball) in a high arc

chip Scientific  

/ chĭp /

1. See integrated circuit

---

chip More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing chip

• cash in (one's chips)
• in the money (chips)
• let the chips fall where they may
• when the chips are down

---

Other Word Forms

• chippable
  adjective
• chipper
  noun
• unchippable
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of chip¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English noun chippe, chip “chip, shaving, splinter” (compare Old English cipp “plowshare, beam, i.e., piece cut off )”; compare Old Saxon kipp “stick,” Old Norse keppr “stick,” Old High German kipfa “wagon pole”; late Middle English verb chippen “to cut, cut up, trim, chop” (compare Old English -cippian in forcippian “to cut off )”; akin to Middle Low German, Middle Dutch kippen “to chip (eggs), hatch”; perhaps all the Germanic forms derive from Latin cip(p)us “boundary stone, tombstone, stake, post, pillar“

Origin of chip²

First recorded in 1880–85; variant of cheep

Origin of chip³

First recorded in 1820–30; noun use of chip “to trip up”; cognate with German kippen “to tip over,” Old Norse kippa “to pull”

Explanation

If a small flake of your purple nail polish breaks off, you might describe it as a chip, or a tiny piece. You might also say, "Shoot, I always seem to chip my nails." You can use the word chip as a noun or a verb, to describe the breaking off of a small piece or the small piece itself. You might accidentally chip your aunt's favorite tea cup, or realize that slamming your door made a chip of paint fall off your bedroom wall. The word comes from the Old English forcippian, "to pare away by cutting," and the related cipp, also pronounced chip, which means "small piece of wood."

Example Sentences

The Racing Form reported jockey Jose Ortiz, who rode Golden Tempo to his Derby win, will ride Chip Honcho in the Preakness.

From Los Angeles Times • May 6, 2026

Chip makers are racing to meet surging demand for the specialized devices that are pivotal to powering artificial intelligence.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 5, 2026

Chip manufacturers are seeing so much demand that they can’t make enough chips for every customer fast enough.

From MarketWatch • May 4, 2026

Chip makers are the largest consumers of helium globally, using the gas to maintain stable temperatures while etching silicon wafers into advanced semiconductors.

From Barron's • Apr. 30, 2026

If Chip had asked him that question a few years ago, Jonah would have added, “And she’s got cooties!”

From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Related Words

• chop
• crack
• hack
• nick
• splinter
• whack