What does "chip" mean?
A small piece broken from a larger piece of solid material.
Chip
/t͡ʃʰɪp/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A small piece broken from a larger piece of solid material.
- Grammar: chip is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: a bit, abrade, abrade, abrasion.
- Useful contrasts: build up, fill, ignore.
- Usage evidence: Bob's really a chip off the old block.
How to use "chip"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "chip" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "chip" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "chip" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "chip" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "chip" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "a bit" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "chip", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A small piece broken from a larger piece of solid material.
"The floor of the sculptor's studio was strewn with chips of marble."
- 2 Abbreviation of chromatin immunoprecipitation. abbreviation, alt-of, uncountable
- 3 An officer of the California Highway Patrol.
- 4 the act of chipping something wordnet
- 5 A damaged area of a surface where a small piece has been broken off.
"This cup has a chip in it."
Show 28 more definitions
- 6 (golf) a low running approach shot wordnet
- 7 A token used in place of cash.
"If the second player does raise three chips, and all the other players drop, the player who opened may stay in by putting three more chips in the pot, for then he will have put in precisely as many chips as the second player."
- 8 electronic equipment consisting of a small crystal of a silicon semiconductor fabricated to carry out a number of electronic functions in an integrated circuit wordnet
- 9 A medallion.
"AA chips showing duration of abstinence (6 months)"
- 10 a small disk-shaped counter used to represent money when gambling wordnet
- 11 A sovereign (the coin). dated, slang
- 12 a triangular wooden float attached to the end of a log line wordnet
- 13 A circuit fabricated in one piece on a small, thin substrate; a microchip.
"1986 September 1, Tom Moran, Lisa L. Spiegelman, New Chip Said to Contain Seven PC AT Chip Functions, InfoWorld, page 5, But sources close to the company said the chip contains two direct memory access controllers, two interrupt controllers, a timer, a memory mapper from Texas Instruments, and a Motorola Inc. real-time clock."
- 14 a mark left after a small piece has been chopped or broken off of something wordnet
- 15 A hybrid device mounted in a substrate, containing electronic circuitry and miniaturised mechanical, chemical or biochemical devices.
"2002, Koji Ikuta, Atsushi Takahashi, Kota Ikeda, Shoji Maruo, User-Assembly Fully Integrated Micro Chemical Laboratory Using Biochemical IC Chips for Wearable/Implantable Applications, Yoshinobu Baba, Shuichi Shoji, Albert van den Berg (editors), Micro Total Analysis Systems 2002: Proceedings of the μTAS 2002 Symposium, Volume 1, page 38, Fig. 4(a) shows a schematic design of the micropump chip."
- 16 a thin crisp slice of potato fried in deep fat wordnet
- 17 A deep-fried strip of potato; see also usage note at french fries. Australia, Ireland, New-Zealand, UK, archaic, plural-normally
"I always say the best way to judge an establishment is by its chips because if you can’t master that, what can you do?"
- 18 a small fragment of something broken off from the whole wordnet
- 19 A thin, crisp, fried slice of potato, a crisp; occasionally a similar fried slice of another vegetable or dried fruit. Australia, Canada, New-Zealand, US, especially, in-plural
"They made their own potato chips from scratch... He ate a tortilla chip with guac... served with a side of apple chips..."
- 20 a piece of dried bovine dung wordnet
- 21 A type of shot in various sports.; A shot during which the ball travels more predominantly upwards than in a regular shot, as to clear an obstacle.
"Oxlade-Chamberlain saw his attempted chip well blocked by goalkeeper Costanzo at the start of the second half."
- 22 A type of shot in various sports.; A light shot with a downward slice, usually played from close to the net.
- 23 A type of shot in various sports.; A low shot, usually played at short range around and onto a green, intended to travel a short distance through the air and roll the remainder of the way towards the hole.
- 24 A type of shot in various sports.; A very light shot that hits the cue ball so softly that it barely moves an object ball into a pocket without the cue ball going in as well.
- 25 A type of shot in various sports.; A takeout that hits a rock at an angle.
- 26 A dried piece of dung, often used as fuel.
- 27 A receptacle, usually for strawberries or other fruit. New-Zealand, Northern
- 28 A small, near-conical piece of food added in baking.
"chocolate chip"
- 29 A small rectangle of colour printed on coated paper for colour selection and matching. A virtual equivalent in software applications.
- 30 The triangular piece of wood attached to the log line.
- 31 Wood or Cuban palm leaf split into slips, or straw plaited in a special manner, for making hats or bonnets. historical
- 32 Anything dried up, withered, or without flavour. archaic, derogatory
- 33 The smallest amount; a whit or jot.
"One captain that I sailed with was not a chip better than the one we’re with now."
Verb
- 1 To chop or cut into small pieces. transitive
"The workers chipped the dead branches into mulch."
- 2 To leave. UK, intransitive, slang
"‘Lloyd, I’m gonna chip.’ ‘You just got here!’ ‘I know–but I gotta chip. Got shit to do.’"
- 3 cut a nick into wordnet
- 4 To break small pieces from. transitive
"Be careful not to chip the paint."
- 5 break a small piece off from wordnet
Show 14 more definitions
- 6 To become chipped. intransitive
"This varnish chips easily."
- 7 break off (a piece from a whole) wordnet
- 8 To chisel (something), to chisel on (something). dialectal, transitive
"The fitter was chipping and filing a workpiece clamped in his vise."
- 9 form by chipping wordnet
- 10 To use a chisel. dialectal, intransitive
"The fitters were chipping and filing furiously to meet their deadline."
- 11 play a chip shot wordnet
- 12 To strike or play (the ball or other implement) as a chip shot. transitive
"Koeman identified Southampton’s third as their finest goal of the game. Jack Cork, the most underrated player at a much-lauded club, swept the ball out wide to Tadic, who waited for Cork to run to the back post before chipping the ball across to him to slam in a deserved goal from close range, despite an attempted block by Vito Mannone."
- 13 To beat (an opposing player) by use of a chip shot, such as by looping the ball over the head of the opposing goalkeeper. transitive
"Typically when someone scores a stunning goal this early in the season — it’s only Week 2 — it gets forgotten, or at the very least lost in the shuffle after eight more months of worthy GOTY candidates. Not this year, though, because no one is forgetting Amarikwa chipping Adam Kwarasey from 35 yards out and burying the ball in the top corner."
- 14 To move (a ball) a relatively short distance by means of an oblique contact. transitive
"In potting the black, he also managed to chip the red off the side cushion."
- 15 To fit (an animal) with a microchip. informal, transitive
- 16 To upgrade an engine management system, usually to increase power. transitive
- 17 To ante (up). intransitive, often
- 18 To contribute. UK, often, transitive
"Everyone needs to chip in £1 for George's leaving collection."
- 19 To make fun of.
"They chip me about giving that young judy the cross; but I dont care: I stand up to them proper, and tell them that if she hadnt a better right to it than they, she'd be where they are."
Proper Noun
- 1 A diminutive of the male given names Christopher and Charles.
""What else? Anyway, here's the genealogy: Charles Junior's only son is Charles the Third - like royalty. He goes by Chip - Cassie's daddy. The mom is Cindy. The dead son was Chad - Charles the Fourth." "All Cs," I said. "Sounds like they like order.""
- 2 Acronym of children's health insurance program. abbreviation, acronym, alt-of
- 3 Acronym of California Highway Patrol. abbreviation, acronym, alt-of
- 4 A nickname used for males who are second-generation namesakes.
- 5 Acronym of clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential. abbreviation, acronym, alt-of
Example
"Bob's really a chip off the old block."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "chip"?
Common synonyms include: a bit, abrade, abrade, abrasion, air, bark.
How do you use "chip" in a sentence?
Bob's really a chip off the old block.
How do you pronounce "chip"?
Pronounced /t͡ʃʰɪp/.
Etymology
Noun from Middle English chip, chippe, from Old English ċipp (“chip; small piece of wood, shaving”), from Old English *ċippian (“to cut; hew”) – attested in Old English forċippian (“to cut off”) –, from Proto-West Germanic *kippōn (“to cut; carve; hack; chop”), from Proto-Germanic *kippōną (“to chip, chop”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵeyb- (“to split; divide; germinate; sprout”). Related to Dutch kip, keep (“notch; nick; score”), Dutch kippen (“to hatch”), German Low German kippen (“to cut; clip; trim; shorten”), German kipfen (“to chop off the tip; snip”), Old Swedish kippa (“to chop”). Compare also chop. The formally similar Old English ċipp, ċypp, ċyp (“a beam; log; stock; post”), from Proto-Germanic *kippaz (“log; beam”) (whence Old Saxon kip (“post”), Old High German kipfa, chipfa (“axle, stave”), Old Norse keppr (“cudgel, club”)) is a different, unrelated word either borrowed from Latin cippus (“stake; pale; post”) or borrowed from the same source language as the Latin. Verb from Middle English chippen, from Old English *ċippian (“to cut; hew”) – attested in Old English forċippian (“to cut off”) – see above.