chip
1 Americannoun
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a small, slender piece, as of wood, separated by chopping, cutting, or breaking.
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a very thin slice or small piece of food, candy, etc..
chocolate chips.
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a mark or flaw made by the breaking off or gouging out of a small piece.
This glass has a chip.
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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.
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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.
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a small cut or uncut piece of a diamond or crystal.
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anything trivial or worthless.
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something dried up or without flavor.
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a piece of dried dung.
buffalo chips.
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wood, straw, etc., in thin strips for weaving into hats, baskets, etc.
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Golf. chip shot.
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Tennis. a softly sliced return shot with heavy backspin.
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the strip of material removed by a recording stylus as it cuts the grooves in a record.
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Chiefly British. chips, French fries.
verb (used with object)
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to hew or cut with an ax, chisel, etc.
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to cut, break off, or gouge out (bits or fragments).
He chipped a few pieces of ice from the large cube.
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to disfigure by breaking off a fragment.
to chip the edge of a saucer.
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to shape or produce by cutting or flaking away pieces.
to chip a figure out of wood.
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Games. to bet by means of chips, as in poker.
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Tennis. to slice (a ball) on a return shot, causing it to have heavy backspin.
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Slang. to take (a narcotic drug) occasionally, especially only in sufficient quantity to achieve a mild euphoria.
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Chiefly British Sports. to hit or kick (a ball) a short distance forward.
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British Slang. to jeer or criticize severely; deride; taunt.
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Australian. to hoe; harrow.
verb (used without object)
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to break off in small pieces.
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Golf. to make a chip shot.
verb phrase
idioms
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chip on one's shoulder, a disposition to quarrel.
You will never make friends if you go around with a chip on your shoulder.
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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.
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Don't look down on your old friends now that you're in the chips.
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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.
verb (used without object)
noun
noun
noun
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a small piece removed by chopping, cutting, or breaking
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a mark left after a small piece has been chopped, cut, or broken off something
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(in some games) a counter used to represent money
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a thin strip of potato fried in deep fat
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Also called (in Britain and certain other countries): crisp. a very thin slice of potato fried and eaten cold as a snack
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a small piece or thin slice of food
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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
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electronics a tiny wafer of semiconductor material, such as silicon, processed to form a type of integrated circuit or component such as a transistor
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a thin strip of wood or straw used for making woven hats, baskets, etc
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a container for soft fruit, made of thin sheets of wood; punnet
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informal inexpensive; good value
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informal a person who resembles one of his or her parents in behaviour
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informal to be aggressively sensitive about a particular thing or bear a grudge
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informal to be defeated, condemned to die, killed, etc
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informal at a time of crisis or testing
verb
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to break small pieces from or become broken off in small pieces
will the paint chip?
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(tr) to break or cut into small pieces
to chip ice
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(tr) to shape by chipping
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sport to strike or kick (a ball) in a high arc
Other Word Forms
- chippable adjective
- chipper noun
- unchippable adjective
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”
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.
Analysts have warned of shortages of fertilizer, necessary for farming, and helium, a critical component for medical machinery and chip production.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026
The system is built around a tiny chip containing an array of semiconductor lasers, combined with an optical design that carefully controls how light is distributed.
From Science Daily • Apr. 2, 2026
Shareholders are closely following developments in an alleged chip smuggling case.
From Barron's • Apr. 2, 2026
The entire array fits on a chip smaller than a millimeter, making it suitable for compact wireless access points and potentially small enough to integrate into devices such as smartphones.
From Science Daily • Apr. 2, 2026
“Oh,” said the woman, like she had specially made chocolate chip and Hazel asked for oatmeal.
From "Breadcrumbs" by Anne Ursu
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.
