chip

[ chip ]

/ tʃɪp /

Save This Word!

See synonyms for: chip / chipped / chipping / chips on Thesaurus.com

noun

a small, slender piece, as of wood, separated by chopping, cutting, or breaking.

a very thin slice or small piece of food, candy, etc.: chocolate chips.

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

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.

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.

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

anything trivial or worthless.

something dried up or without flavor.

a piece of dried dung: buffalo chips.

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

Golf. chip shot.

Tennis. a softly sliced return shot with heavy backspin.

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

chips, Chiefly British. French fries.

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

to hew or cut with an ax, chisel, etc.

to cut, break off, or gouge out (bits or fragments): He chipped a few pieces of ice from the large cube.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Australian. to hoe; harrow.

verb (used without object), chipped, chip·ping.

to break off in small pieces.

Golf. to make a chip shot.

Verb Phrases

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.

QUIZ

CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?

There are grammar debates that never die; and the ones highlighted in the questions in this quiz are sure to rile everyone up once again. Do you know how to answer the questions that cause some of the greatest grammar debates?

Question 1 of 7

Which sentence is correct?

His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Idioms about chip

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.

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

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

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

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“

OTHER WORDS FROM chip

chip·pa·ble, adjectiveun·chip·pa·ble, adjective

Other definitions for chip (2 of 3)

chip²

[ chip ]

/ tʃɪp /

verb (used without object), chipped, chip·ping.

to utter a short chirping or squeaking sound; cheep.

noun

a short chirping or squeaking cry.

Origin of chip

First recorded in 1880–85; variant of cheep

Other definitions for chip (3 of 3)

chip³

[ chip ]

/ tʃɪp /

noun Wrestling.

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

Origin of chip

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. 2023

How to use chip in a sentence

The company makes chips that are central to the buildout of 5G worldwide.
The 21 best stocks to buy for 2021|Anne Sraders|November 20, 2020|Fortune
Stephanie Willis, 36, bakes with her 12-year-old daughter, and they have made several batches of peanut butter blossoms, oatmeal cookies, chocolate chip cookies and banana bread muffins for Cookies for Caregivers.
It started as a macho bake-off between dads. Months later, they’ve delivered 15,000 cookies to essential workers.|Sydney Page|November 20, 2020|Washington Post
They also were asked how often they ate chips, candy, cookies, fried foods and sugary soft drinks.
Warning! Junk foods can harm a teen’s brain|Sharon Oosthoek|November 19, 2020|Science News For Students
The Apple silicon product built for the Mac is called the M1 and it’s a system on a chip.
Apple’s M1 chip makes the new MacBook Air shockingly good|Stan Horaczek|November 18, 2020|Popular-Science

Now the Suns are pushing all their chips to the middle in an effort to build on that success.
Chris Paul Helped Blake Griffin Shine. Can He Do The Same For Deandre Ayton?|Jared Dubin|November 18, 2020|FiveThirtyEight
Tired of the classical sculptures, impressionist paintings, and chipped ancient relics you stroll past at your local art museum?
Beware: Connecticut’s Museum of the Occult May Kill You|Nina Strochlic|July 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Journalistic access to prisons and prisoners has been slowly chipped away for decades.
Censored and ‘Obscene’ in Solitary|Sarah Shourd|June 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
At another mortuary, “a very stout matron” has frozen to the metal refrigerator tray and must be chipped from it.
Death Became Her: Molly Lefebure’s Wartime Years of Murder and Suicide|Tim Teeman|April 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Wires hang from its ceiling, its marble floors are chipped and trash is strewn across the dusty corridors.
Egypt To Newspapers: Support The Army Or Else|Jamie Dettmer|February 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Even government chipped in a little, adding eight basis points to the growth rate.
Bad News for People Who Like Bad News|Daniel Gross|December 20, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Near the fireplaces Mr. Roe picked up some stones that had been chipped probably in the manufacture of their hatchets.
Narrative of a Survey of the Intertropical and Western Coasts of Australia] [Volume 2 of 2]|Phillip Parker King
Seemingly chipped stones have been found that belong to the remote Miocene geological age.
Man And His Ancestor|Charles Morris
He leaned back, smoking his cigar, patting the dog, and stirring the coffee that steamed in their chipped cups.
Summer|Edith Wharton
A couple of fairish paddles were chipped out of bits of driftwood, and a towline a hundred feet long was made of lariats.
Overland|John William De Forest
The implements are of a roughly-chipped type resembling those of the Mousterian period.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 3|Various

British Dictionary definitions for chip

chip

/ (tʃɪp) /

noun

a small piece removed by chopping, cutting, or breaking

a mark left after a small piece has been chopped, cut, or broken off something

(in some games) a counter used to represent money

a thin strip of potato fried in deep fat

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

a small piece or thin slice of food

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

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

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

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

cheap as chips British informal inexpensive; good value

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

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

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

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

verb chips, chipping or chipped

to break small pieces from or become broken off in small pieceswill the paint chip?

(tr) to break or cut into small piecesto chip ice

(tr) to shape by chipping

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

Derived forms of chip

chipper, noun

Word Origin for chip

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

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 ]

See integrated circuit.

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

chip

Idioms about chip

Origin of chip

OTHER WORDS FROM chip

Other definitions for chip (2 of 3)

Origin of chip

Other definitions for chip (3 of 3)

Origin of chip

Words related to chip

How to use chip in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for chip

Derived forms of chip

Word Origin for chip

Scientific definitions for chip

Other Idioms and Phrases with chip