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

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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”

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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

The chip maker reiterated its 2026 capex guidance between US$60 billion- US$64 billion and sees significant upside through 2028.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

A more efficient chip can improve operating economics while a larger deployment consumes additional cash.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026

The AI chip leader was defying the ongoing sector slump early Friday.

From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026

U.S. stocks fell, led by the Nasdaq composite, as chip and AI-related shares came under new pressure.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

He had started with one anomaly, the floating chip of ebony, and discovered another, the floating needle; as a consequence he had done his best to make sense of surface tension.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

The last time he had expressed frustration about the Commanders on social media was three years ago, shortly after Harris became majority owner and Johnson had chipped in $240 million as a limited partner.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026

The two soft dismissals highlighted Sri Lanka's woes - Lahiru Udara was caught at mid-on and Kamil Mishara chipped one straight back to the slow left-arm spinner.

From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026

“For savers with money sitting in savings accounts earning a median or average rate, some may be seeing their returns being chipped away,” Roske said.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 14, 2026

Alice Capsey was pinned lbw for one and Jodi Grewcock chipped one to mid-wicket for 24, but all-rounders Freya Kemp and Dani Gibson safely steered England to victory with an unbroken stand of 41.

From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026

I have my chipped owl mug from the history museum.

From "Sparrow" by Sarah Moon

BOJ officials’ signaling of faster hikes is chipping away at perceptions of the central bank as slow-moving—a view that has long been a drag on the yen, the foreign-exchange strategist said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026

Vanderbilt trailed by 17 points midway through the third quarter when they started chipping away at a comeback.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026

So far this year, rising inflation rates have been chipping at the real returns people can get in high-yield savings accounts and CDs.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 16, 2026

Morris appeared to have scored earlier in the half, getting loose on a breakaway before chipping the ball over Galaxy keeper JT Marcinkowski.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026

People were everywhere; some working in the quarry itself, others scattered about the hillside; the heftier among the men splitting boulders, the women and children chipping fragments off the larger stones.

From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya

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Related Words

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

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