Chip Definition & Meaning

American

British

Scientific

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Other Word Forms

Etymology

Examples

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Synonyms chip 1 American [chip] / tʃɪp /

noun

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

2. a very thin slice or small piece of food, candy, etc..

   chocolate chips.

3. a mark or flaw made by the breaking off or gouging out of a small piece.

   This glass has a chip.

4. 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.

5. 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.

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

7. anything trivial or worthless.

8. something dried up or without flavor.

9. a piece of dried dung.

   buffalo chips.

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

11. Golf. chip shot.

12. Tennis. a softly sliced return shot with heavy backspin.

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

14. Chiefly British. chips, French fries.

verb (used with object)

chipped, chipping

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

2. to cut, break off, or gouge out (bits or fragments).

   He chipped a few pieces of ice from the large cube.

3. to disfigure by breaking off a fragment.

   to chip the edge of a saucer.

4. to shape or produce by cutting or flaking away pieces.

   to chip a figure out of wood.

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

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

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

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

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

10. Australian. to hoe; harrow.

verb (used without object)

chipped, chipping

1. to break off in small pieces.

2. Golf. to make a chip shot.

verb phrase

1. chip in

   1. to contribute money or assistance; participate.

   2. Games. to bet a chip or chips, as in poker.

   3. to interrupt a conversation to say something; butt in.

      We all chipped in with our suggestions for the reunion.

idioms

1. chip on one's shoulder, a disposition to quarrel.

   You will never make friends if you go around with a chip on your shoulder.

2. 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.

3. in the chips, wealthy; rich.

   Don't look down on your old friends now that you're in the chips.

4. 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.

chip 2 American [chip] / tʃɪp /

noun

Wrestling.

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

chip 3 American [chip] / tʃɪp /

verb (used without object)

chipped, chipping

1. to utter a short chirping or squeaking sound; cheep.

noun

1. a short chirping or squeaking cry.

chip British / tʃɪp /

noun

1. a small piece removed by chopping, cutting, or breaking

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

3. (in some games) a counter used to represent money

4. a thin strip of potato fried in deep fat

5. Also called (in Britain and certain other countries): crisp. a very thin slice of potato fried and eaten cold as a snack

6. a small piece or thin slice of food

7. 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

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

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

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

11. informal inexpensive; good value

12. informal a person who resembles one of his or her parents in behaviour

13. informal to be aggressively sensitive about a particular thing or bear a grudge

14. informal to be defeated, condemned to die, killed, etc

15. informal at a time of crisis or testing

"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

verb

1. to break small pieces from or become broken off in small pieces

   will the paint chip?

2. (tr) to break or cut into small pieces

   to chip ice

3. (tr) to shape by chipping

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

"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 chip Scientific / chĭp /

1. See integrated circuit

chip More Idioms

More idioms and phrases containing chip

• cash in (one's chips)
• in the money (chips)
• let the chips fall where they may
• when the chips are down

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 chip1

First recorded in 1820–30; noun use of chip “to trip up”; cognate with German kippen “to tip over,” Old Norse kippa “to pull”

Origin of chip1

First recorded in 1880–85; variant of cheep

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.

The new strategic engagement between STMicro and Amazon illustrates how the largest cloud providers are trying to ensure secure, long-term supplies of chips given the rapid growth of AI workloads and infrastructure requirements.

From MarketWatch

Surging demand for HBM chips, which carry higher margins than typical memory components, has been a big part of the reason Micron’s share price has more than quadrupled in the past 12 months.

From Barron's

The only somewhat safe place is proving to be the chip makers and other companies that benefit directly from the spending spree.

From The Wall Street Journal

The island is home to the world’s largest contract chip maker and the biggest contract electronics maker.

From The Wall Street Journal

Seoul climbed more than four percent, helped by a six percent jump in market heavyweight Samsung after a report said it would start mass production of its next-generation HBM4 memory chips.

From Barron's

Related Words

• chop
• crack
• hack
• nick
• splinter
• whack

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.