chip

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A small piece broken off from a larger solid object.

   The floor was covered with chips of marble.

2. 2
   noun

   A tiny electronic part inside computers and other devices; a microchip.

   The new phone runs on a faster chip.

3. 3
   noun

   A small mark or hole on a surface where a piece has broken off.

   This cup has a chip in it.

4. 4
   verb

   To break a small piece off something.

   She chipped her tooth after a nasty fall.

5. 5
   noun

   A small round counter used instead of money in gambling games.

   He pushed three chips into the middle of the table.

Multiword verbs with chip

• chip in Phrasal verb A2

  to contribute money or effort toward a shared purpose

• chip off Phrasal verb A2

  to break away as a small piece from a harder surface

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Chip was probably formed from Old English cippian, “to cut off,” although it is not recorded until Middle English; parallels occur in other Germanic languages. Another later sense is “a counter used in gambling games, representing money.” Deep-fried slices of potato have been called chips, short for chipped potatoes, since the time of Dickens.

Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *kippōną Proto-West Germanic *kippōn Old English *ċippiander. Old English ċipp Middle English chippe English chip 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 hatc…

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External links

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• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary