chip in
Britishverb
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to contribute (money, time, etc) to a cause or fund
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(intr) to interpose a remark or interrupt with a remark
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Contribute money, help, or advice, as in If we all chip in we'll have enough to buy a suitable gift , or Everyone chipped in with ideas for the baby shower . Mark Twain used this term in Roughing It (1872): “I'll be there and chip in and help, too.” [Mid-1800s]
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In poker and other games, to put up chips or money as one's bet. For example, I'll chip in another hundred but that's my limit or, as Bret Harte put it in Gabriel Conroy (1876): “You've jest cut up thet rough with my higher emotions, there ain't enough left to chip in on a ten-cent ante.” [Mid-1800s]
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He also said the union is not trying to use the Games as a bargaining chip in labor talks and said the two sides could reach an Olympics agreement independently of a collective bargaining agreement.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2026
Even having a chip in the ball, like at the World Cup, would not help here as the head and hands were so close together.
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026
Better ways can be found for the wealthy Gulf countries and Asian buyers of Gulf oil and gas to chip in.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026
The federal government is set to chip in $1,000 for babies born between 2025 and 2028.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 30, 2026
A chip in one front tooth showed when he smiled.
From "Gathering Blue" by Lois Lowry
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
