chip

[chip]

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.

Idioms

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

1300–50; (noun) Middle English chip (compare Old English cipp plowshare, beam, i.e., piece cut off); (v.) late Middle English chippen (compare Old English -cippian in forcippian to cut off); akin to Middle Low German, Middle Dutch kippen to chip eggs, hatch

Related formschip·pa·ble, adjectiveun·chip·pa·ble, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

British Dictionary definitions for in the chips

chip

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 Formschipper, 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

Word Origin and History for in the chips

chip

early 15c., "to chip" (intransitive, of stone); from Old English forcippian "to pare away by cutting, cut off," verbal form of cipp "small piece of wood" (see chip (n.)). Transitive meaning "to cut up, cut or trim" is from late 15c. Sense of "break off fragments" is 18c. To chip in "contribute" (1861) is American English, perhaps from card-playing. Related: Chipped; chipping. Chipped beef attested from 1826.

chip

n.1

Old English cipp "piece of wood," perhaps from PIE root *keipo- "sharp post" (cf. Dutch kip "small strip of wood," Old High German kipfa "wagon pole," Old Norse keppr "stick," Latin cippus "post, stake, beam;" the Germanic words perhaps borrowed from Latin).

Meaning "counter used in a game of chance" is first recorded 1840; electronics sense is from 1962. Used for thin slices of foodstuffs (originally fruit) since 1769; specific reference to potatoes is found by 1859 (in "A Tale of Two Cities"); potato chip is attested by 1879. Meaning "piece of dried dung" first attested 1846, American English.

Chip of the old block is used by Milton (1642); earlier form was chip of the same block (1620s); more common modern phrase with off in place of of is early 20c. To have a chip on one's shoulder is 1830, American English, from the custom of a boy determined to fight putting a wood chip on his shoulder and defying another to knock it off.