chisel
Americannoun
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a wedgelike tool with a cutting edge at the end of the blade, often made of steel, used for cutting or shaping wood, stone, etc.
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Astronomy. Chisel, the constellation Caelum.
verb (used with object)
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to cut, shape, or fashion by or as if by carving with a chisel.
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to cheat or swindle (someone).
He chiseled me out of fifty dollars.
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to get (something) by cheating or trickery.
He chiseled fifty dollars out of me.
noun
verb
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to carve (wood, stone, metal, etc) or form (an engraving, statue, etc) with or as with a chisel
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slang to cheat or obtain by cheating
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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have chiselledperfect
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has chiselledperfect 3rd person singular
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have chiseledperfect
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has chiseledperfect 3rd person singular
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are chiselingprogressive
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is chisellingprogressive 3rd person singular
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am chisellingprogressive 1st person singular
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chiselssingular 3rd person
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has been chisellingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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chisellingparticiple
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chiselingparticiple
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is chiselingprogressive 3rd person singular
-
has been chiselingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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am chiselingprogressive 1st person singular
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have been chisellingperfect progressive
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have been chiselingperfect progressive
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are chisellingprogressive
Past
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had chiselledperfect
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had chiseledperfect
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was chisellingprogressive singular
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were chisellingprogressive plural
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had been chisellingperfect progressive
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were chiselingprogressive plural
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chiselledparticiple
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chiseledsimple
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was chiselingprogressive singular
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chiseledparticiple
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chiselledsimple
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had been chiselingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of chisel
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English, from Anglo-French, variant of Old French cisel, from unattested Vulgar Latin cīsellus, diminutive of unattested cīsus, for Latin caesus, past participle of caedere “to cut,” with -ī- generalized from prefixed derivatives; cf. excide
Explanation
When you carve a statue from a block of marble, you use a tool called a chisel to cut out the shape. Chisel is the name of the tool and also the name of the action. A chisel has a flat, sharp end. To carve using a chisel, you hit the back of it with a hammer or another blunt instrument. Chisel can also mean "to cheat." If someone chisels you out of your allowance, they shaved it away from you bit by bit.
Vocabulary lists containing chisel
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The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
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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.
Failure is fatal only when the chisel is abandoned and despair prevails.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 7, 2026
“I had to put the table upside down and use a chisel and grinder to remove as much material as I could. It took us three tries to get the table right.”
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 8, 2026
“CMS is continuing to chisel away at higher spending associated with coding intensity,” says Tricia Neuman, executive director for the Program on Medicare Policy at KFF, a health policy nonprofit.
From Barron's • Jan. 27, 2026
Carrying sledge hammers, scientists hiked to the impact site in South Africa to chisel off chunks of rock to understand the crash.
From BBC • Oct. 21, 2024
I drive the chisel into a groove and hit it hard with the hammer, taking off a big chunk of rock, then another.
From "I'll Give You the Sun" by Jandy Nelson
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.
