chippy
1 Americannoun
adjective
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Ice Hockey. using or characterized by aggressive, rough play or commission of fouls.
a chippy player;
a chippy second period.
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Canadian. ill-tempered; irritable.
noun
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a store selling fish and chips.
I picked up some takeaway from the local chippy.
-
a carpenter.
noun
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informal a fish-and-chip shop
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a slang word for carpenter
-
a potato crisp
adjective
noun
noun
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of chippy1
An Americanism dating back to 1860–65; chipp(ing sparrow) + -y 2; chippy 1 def. 1 apparently derivative of this sense, or from chip 2
Origin of chippy2
Origin of chippy3
First recorded in 1885–90; chip 1 (compare chip on one's shoulder ) + -y 1
Origin of chippy4
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:
All they needed to do the rest of the way was lock down a physical Australian team that grew increasingly chippy as the game went on.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
“This was a conversation we had going into the game, you know, because just from what I was seeing, I knew it was going to be a chippy game,” Foster said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2025
The Panthers boast three of the league’s most notorious pests on their roster, each of whom is renowned for trash talking, chippy hits, and enthusiastically physical play.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2025
The shift in energy was palpable in what became a chippy, physical game.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 1, 2025
Day after day, his chippy chirpy perky self.
From "Crash" by Jerry Spinelli
High fish prices, rising energy costs, and the appeal of multi-flavoured chicken meals are forcing many chippies to diversify.
From BBC ● Feb. 7, 2026
And he said Britain would lose more than takeout meals if thousands of neighborhood chippies disappeared.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 10, 2022
In the nation’s chippies, 90% of the cod served is imported.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 18, 2019
In bed, and on couch, and in kitchen, fresh out of oven, with lots of chocolate chippies .
From Washington Post ● Apr. 9, 2018
Nature has probably told the winter chippies that rose hips are no good—spring decorations must not be pilfered by the snow sprites.
From Minstrel Weather by Storm, Marian
After Jared McCann headed back to the locker room following a hit from Cale Makar, the game got chippier and chippier, with Geekie’s pink-tinted visor often bobbing in the middle of post-whistle scrums.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 26, 2023
The game got chippier as the clock ticked toward zero.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 18, 2021
The tie lived on, and the chippiness became chippier, including an interlude involving Alonso and SKC star Benny Feilhaber that Vermes clearly felt warranted a second yellow.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 27, 2016
The work down low wouldn't result in a goal then, but the Capitals appeared to feed off the energy as things got chippier between the two teams.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 7, 2011
I thought he seemed chippier than ever this morning when he went out.
From The Double Life Of Mr. Alfred Burton by Oppenheim, E. Phillips (Edward Phillips)
Herbert Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt had two of history’s chippiest White House visits.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 1, 2020
Rockhold, the 185lb champion, is genuinely chippy – perhaps the chippiest person on the UFC roster.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 4, 2016
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.
