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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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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

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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

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Other Word Forms

• chipper
  noun
• chippable
  adjective
• 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

See Examples For:

chip chipped chipping

At first, the effort to measure losses over distances of meters or even kilometers might seem excessive for devices that fit on a small chip.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 17, 2026

Nvidia has moved beyond earlier mechanisms for circular financing, such as making equity investments in OpenAI and other AI firms, to newer structures that make chip purchases cheaper by lowering the cost of borrowing.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026

In the coming years, he said India will have eight more semiconductor chip plants and five nuclear reactors which will generate 100 gigawatts of power by 2047.

From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026

"There's no doubt the Taliban would like to be recognised at the UN but it's no longer as potent a bargaining chip as it was at the beginning," they assess.

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

Returning to his chair, he watched in fascination as the gleaming, diamondlike claws continued to chip away at the shell.

From "Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher" by Bruce Coville

He contributed some big moments and chipped in with his biggest return in front of goal with six strikes in the campaign.

From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026

The Venetians, in particular, who had dragged their feet about aiding the Romans, came to bitterly regret the fall as the Ottomans gradually chipped away at their maritime empire in the eastern Mediterranean.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026

If you can’t get your pet chipped in time for Saturday, make sure they have a good collar with an up-to-date name tag and contact number, Oreck said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 3, 2026

America250 itself has chipped in a late-model orange iPhone.

From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026

His hands were rough, the nails yellowed and chipped, the fingertips scarred.

From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago

But how would any of that pencil out with Dodger Stadium closed most of the year, and with gondola traffic chipping away at revenue from parking fees that start at a monstrous $40?

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2026

Those gains are chipping away at Iran’s leverage.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026

It’s not just the federal government chipping in: A growing number of employers say they are also going to contribute to the accounts of their workers’ children.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 6, 2026

"My son's entire school experience was a gradual chipping away at a person, chipping away at their soul," she said.

From BBC ● Jun. 30, 2026

When she had finished the carving of the puppies, she found a stone by the river and began chipping it into an owl.

From "Julie of the Wolves" by Jean Craighead George

Related Words

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