chip

1
[ chip ]
See synonyms for: chipchippedchippingchips on Thesaurus.com

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.

  1. a mark or flaw made by the breaking off or gouging out of a small piece: This glass has a chip.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.: Compare microprocessor.

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

  5. anything trivial or worthless.

  6. something dried up or without flavor.

  7. a piece of dried dung: buffalo chips.

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

  9. Golf. chip shot.

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

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

  12. chips, Chiefly British. French fries.

verb (used with object),chipped, chip·ping.
  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.

  1. to disfigure by breaking off a fragment: to chip the edge of a saucer.

  2. to shape or produce by cutting or flaking away pieces: to chip a figure out of wood.

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

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

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

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

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

  8. Australian. to hoe; harrow.

verb (used without object),chipped, chip·ping.
  1. to break off in small pieces.

  2. Golf. to make a chip shot.

Verb Phrases
  1. chip in,

    • to contribute money or assistance; participate.

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

    • to interrupt a conversation to say something; butt in: We all chipped in with our suggestions for the reunion.

Idioms about chip

  1. 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.

  2. chip on one's shoulder, a disposition to quarrel: You will never make friends if you go around with a chip on your shoulder.

  1. in the chips, Slang. wealthy; rich: Don't look down on your old friends now that you're in the chips.

  2. 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.

Origin of chip

1
First recorded in1300–50; 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“

Other words from chip

  • chip·pa·ble, adjective
  • un·chip·pa·ble, adjective

Words Nearby chip

Other definitions for chip (2 of 3)

chip2
[ chip ]

verb (used without object),chipped, chip·ping.
  1. to utter a short chirping or squeaking sound; cheep.

noun
  1. a short chirping or squeaking cry.

Origin of chip

2
First recorded in 1880–85; variant of cheep

Other definitions for chip (3 of 3)

chip3
[ chip ]

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

Origin of chip

3
First recorded in 1820–30; noun use of chip “to trip up”; cognate with German kippen “to tip over,” Old Norse kippa “to pull”

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use chip in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for chip

chip

/ (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

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

  2. a thin strip of potato fried in deep fat

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

  4. a small piece or thin slice of food

  5. 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

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

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

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

  9. cheap as chips British informal inexpensive; good value

  10. chip off the old block informal a person who resembles one of his or her parents in behaviour

  11. have a chip on one's shoulder informal to be aggressively sensitive about a particular thing or bear a grudge

  12. have had one's chips British informal to be defeated, condemned to die, killed, etc

  13. when the chips are down informal at a time of crisis or testing

verbchips, chipping or chipped
  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

  1. (tr) to shape by chipping

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

Origin of chip

1
Old English cipp (n), cippian (vb), of obscure origin

Derived forms of chip

  • chipper, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for chip

chip

[ chĭp ]


The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Other Idioms and Phrases with chip

chip

In addition to the idioms beginning with chip

  • chip and dip
  • chip in
  • chip off the old block
  • chip on one's shoulder

also see:

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

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.