chip

¹chip

noun \ˈchip\

Definition of CHIP

1

a : a small usually thin and flat piece (as of wood or stone) cut, struck, or flaked off

b : a small piece of food: as (1) : a small thin slice of food; especially : potato chip (2) : french fry (3) : a small cone-shaped bit of food often used for baking <chocolate chips>

2

: something small, worthless, or trivial

3

a : one of the counters used as a token for money in poker and other games

b plural : money —used especially in the phrase in the chips

c : something valuable that can be used for advantage in negotiation or trade <a bargaining chip>

4

: a piece of dried dung —usually used in combination <cow chip>

5

: a flaw left after a chip has been broken off

6

a : integrated circuit

b : a small wafer of semiconductor material that forms the base for an integrated circuit

7

: chip shot 1

8

: microarray <DNA chips>

— chip off the old block

: a child that resembles his or her parent

— chip on one's shoulder

: a challenging or belligerent attitude

Examples of CHIP

1. The cup has a chip in it.
2. <wood chips were spread over the ground between the plants>

Origin of CHIP

Middle English; akin to Old English -cippian

First Known Use: 14th century

Related to CHIP

Synonyms

flake, sliver, spall, splint, splinter

Related Words

bit, disk (or disc), fragment, part, particle, portion, scrap, section, shard; flinders, shiver, smithereens; shred, tatter; clipping, paring, shave, shaving, snippet; leaf, sheet, slice

Near Antonyms

chunk, hunk, lump, slab

Other Food Terms

Reuben, calamari, chuck, curry, edamame, foie gras, hummus, leaven, nonpareil, peel

Rhymes with CHIP

blip, clip, dip, drip, flip, grip, grippe, gyp, hip, kip, lip, nip, pip, quip, rip, scrip, ship, sip, skip, slip, snip, strip, tip, trip, whip, yip, zip

²chip

verb

chippedchip·ping

Definition of CHIP

transitive verb

1

a : to cut or hew with an edged tool

b (1) : to cut or break (a small piece) from something (2) : to cut or break a fragment from <chip a tooth> (3) : to cut into chips <chip a tree stump>

2

British : chaff, banter

3

: to hit (a return in tennis) with backspin

intransitive verb

1

: to break off in small pieces

2

: to play a chip shot

Examples of CHIP

1. I bit into something hard and chipped my tooth.
2. He fell and chipped a bone in his knee.
3. The paint had chipped off.
4. He chipped away the ice from the car's windshield.
5. The sculptor chipped away bits of stone.
6. The golfer chipped the ball onto the green.
7. She chipped the soccer ball over the goalie's head.
8. He chipped a pass to his teammate.
9. The golfer chipped onto the green.

Origin of CHIP

Middle English chippen, from Old English -cippian (as in forcippian to cut off); akin to Old English cipp beam, Old High German chipfa stave

First Known Use: 15th century