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chip off the old block

Cultural  
  1. An expression used of people who closely resemble their parents in some way: “Mark just won the same sailboat race his father won twenty years ago; he's a chip off the old block.”


chip off the old block Idioms  
  1. A person who closely resembles a parent, as in Like her mother, Karen has very little patience—a chip off the old block. This term, with its analogy to a chip of stone or wood that closely resembles the larger block it was cut from, dates from ancient times (Theocritus, Idyls, c. 270 b.c.). In English it was already a proverb by the 17th century, then often put as chip of the old block.


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.

See Examples For:

A new story by investigative reporter Michael Isikoff in the SpyTalk newsletter suggests that Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, may be a chip off the old block.

From Slate Jun. 6, 2024

In that regard, he’s a chip off the old block.

From Seattle Times Sep. 20, 2023

Deimos, the smaller of the two moons of Mars, might be a chip off the old block — quite literally.

From New York Times Apr. 25, 2023

But apart from Donald’s profligacy, he is very much a chip off the old block.

From Los Angeles Times Jul. 14, 2020

"Will you look at this? It's like I'm looking at an old picture of myself. You really are a chip off the old block, you know that?"

From "Freak The Mighty" by Rodman Philbrick

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