chip

1 of 2

noun

plural chips
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: such as
(1)
: a small, thin, crisp, usually salty piece of food typically prepared by frying, baking, or drying
banana chips
especially : potato chip see also corn chip
(2)
(3)
: a small often cone-shaped bit of food often used for baking
chocolate chips
c
: a small card displaying a paint color or a range of paint colors available for purchase
fabric swatches and paint 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
chips plural : money
used especially in the phrase in the chips
The beginning was always characterized by careless haste in the expectation of landing in the chips, …William Kittredge
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
b
: a small wafer of semiconductor material that forms the base for an integrated circuit
7
8
: microarray
DNA chips

chip

2 of 2

verb

chipped; chipping

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
Phrases
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 in a Sentence

Noun The cup has a chip in it. wood chips were spread over the ground between the plants Verb I bit into something hard and chipped my tooth. He fell and chipped a bone in his knee. The paint had chipped off. He chipped away the ice from the car's windshield. The sculptor chipped away bits of stone. The golfer chipped the ball onto the green. She chipped the soccer ball over the goalie's head. He chipped a pass to his teammate. The golfer chipped onto the green.
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
The Chips Act set aside $39 billion in grants — plus loans and guarantees worth $75 billion — to convince chip companies to build factories on American soil. Bloomberg, The Mercury News, 20 Mar. 2024 In Chandler, Arizona, the money will help to build two new chip plants and modernize an existing one. CBS News, 20 Mar. 2024 According to the Biden Administration, leading-edge chips are essential to advanced technologies including artificial intelligence, and the latest proposal would help to ensure that more of these semiconductors are developed and made in the U.S., while also creating well-paying jobs. The Arizona Republic, 20 Mar. 2024 Despite their unparalleled importance, America has allowed its control over semiconductor production to slip away–with more than 80% of chips now manufactured in Asia. Pat Gelsinger, Fortune, 20 Mar. 2024 The world’s top tech companies are already lined up for Nvidia’s new chip. Britney Nguyen, Quartz, 19 Mar. 2024 Google’s 11-inch Pixel Tablet uses the same Tensor G2 chip found in the Pixel 7 lineup. Sheena Vasani, The Verge, 19 Mar. 2024 The traditional approach to chip fabrication involves doping—a deliberate contamination of the semiconductor material with certain foreign atoms. IEEE Spectrum, 18 Mar. 2024 Frito-Lay's representatives did not respond to NPR's question whether — or when — the company planned to start adding more chips to each bag. Alina Selyukh, NPR, 8 Mar. 2024
Verb
As the lines between scientific research and military activity blur, activities that live in this gray zone are beginning to chip away at the peaceful status quo that has been in place for so long. Elizabeth Buchanan, Foreign Affairs, 18 Mar. 2024 The discovery made the family feel festive, but the inflated prices chipped away at their savings. Amy Schoenfeld Walker, New York Times, 12 Mar. 2024 Arlington high school teacher Thorburn positioned himself as a more moderate Democrat to make the argument that the party needs to focus on winning races to chip away at the Republican majority in the State House. Harrison Mantas, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 6 Mar. 2024 Lyons talks about a wearing that happens like sandpaper rubbing against wood, a slow chipping away of self-worth. Byjenny Abamu, Fortune, 29 Feb. 2024 But, being proactive with plans to curtail or cut down on shoveling, chipping ice, and buying supplies can make a huge difference. Carley Thornell, The Enquirer, 23 Feb. 2024 Even brief rain exposure can cause the wooden boards to chip and crack. Samantha McIntyre, Parents, 9 Mar. 2024 With each visit, his words chipped away at my emotional disassociation. Erik Himmelsbach-Weinstein, Los Angeles Times, 7 Mar. 2024 Lemur wasn’t much better, only chipping things away. Erik Kain, Forbes, 27 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'chip.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English; akin to Old English -cippian

Verb

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

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

15th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of chip was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near chip

Cite this Entry

“Chip.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chip. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

chip

1 of 2 noun
1
: a small thin flat piece (as of wood, stone, or glass) broken off : flake
2
: a small piece of food
chocolate chip
: as
b
: french fry entry 1
fish and chips
3
a
: a counter used in poker
b
plural : money sense 1c
in the chips
4
: a flaw left after a small piece has been broken off
a cup with a chip in it
5
: a very small slice of silicon containing electronic circuits (as for a computer)

chip

2 of 2 verb
chipped; chipping
1
: to cut or break a chip from something
chip a cup
2
: to break off in small pieces

Medical Definition

chip

noun
: microarray
When exposed to a sample of unknown DNA, the probes on the chip bind to their complementary strands, thereby reading the sequences in the sample.Jeff Wheelwright, Discover

More from Merriam-Webster on chip

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