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
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
8
: microarray
DNA chips
chipped; chipping
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
3
: to hit (a return in tennis) with backspin
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 WebMayukh Sen, Washington Post, 1 Apr. 2024
Servers processed through manual disassembly may still contain sensitive data on hard drives and memory chips if not properly wiped.
—Sviat Dulianinov, Forbes, 29 Mar. 2024
In the Phoenix area, optimism is buoyed by $60 billion in investments in factories that make advanced computer chips — a Biden administration talking point.
—Peter S. Goodman, New York Times, 29 Mar. 2024
Virtually all household and commercial goods–everything from computer chips and medicines to the materials that built your home to the energy that fuels your life–start with chemical manufacturing.
—Chris Jahn, Fortune, 29 Mar. 2024
At the time of the Huawei phone launch, analysts could not understand how the company would have the technology to make such a chip following sweeping efforts by the United States to restrict China’s access to foreign chip technology.
—Laura He, CNN, 28 Mar. 2024
The Netherlands imposed export licensing requirements in 2023 on the sale of machinery that can make advanced processor chips.
—Ken Moritsugu and Zen Soo, Quartz, 27 Mar. 2024
Joey’s is known for a wide variety of offerings, with casual bites such as handhelds, wings and pizza, along with entrees such as chicken marsala, fish and chips, and its filet duo.
—Heidi Finley, Charlotte Observer, 27 Mar. 2024
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
Thuc Nhi Nguyen, Los Angeles Times, 2 Apr. 2024
Having safe, attractive, and well-maintained places to exercise can chip away at community obesity levels.
—Brianna Kamienski, USA TODAY, 27 Mar. 2024
During this process, the team directed the ions to chip away at specific areas of the wafer, thus creating countless, 2-nanometer-thick, 290-nanometer tall spires.
—Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 27 Mar. 2024
These measures concentrate power in the hands of the executive, chipping away at other democratic institutions, such as Congress and the judiciary, that are critical bulwarks against governmental abuse.
—Gustavo Flores-Macías, Foreign Affairs, 20 Mar. 2024
This manicure lasted a week before any signs of wear, proving superior to traditional manicures that often chip within days.
—Kate Watson, Peoplemag, 16 Mar. 2024
But efforts to identify altered imagery can be impeded by the increasingly easy-to-use apps for phones and computers that allow anyone to chip away, piece by piece, at what a camera actually recorded.
—Deepti Hajela, Quartz, 12 Mar. 2024
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
Noun
The book’s recipes are unrepentantly joyous: There’s a vegetable galette with a painterly rainbow of produce, white chocolate chip cookies with bursts of lemon and lime.
—Mayukh Sen, Washington Post, 1 Apr. 2024
Servers processed through manual disassembly may still contain sensitive data on hard drives and memory chips if not properly wiped.
—Sviat Dulianinov, Forbes, 29 Mar. 2024
In the Phoenix area, optimism is buoyed by $60 billion in investments in factories that make advanced computer chips — a Biden administration talking point.
—Peter S. Goodman, New York Times, 29 Mar. 2024
Virtually all household and commercial goods–everything from computer chips and medicines to the materials that built your home to the energy that fuels your life–start with chemical manufacturing.
—Chris Jahn, Fortune, 29 Mar. 2024
At the time of the Huawei phone launch, analysts could not understand how the company would have the technology to make such a chip following sweeping efforts by the United States to restrict China’s access to foreign chip technology.
—Laura He, CNN, 28 Mar. 2024
The Netherlands imposed export licensing requirements in 2023 on the sale of machinery that can make advanced processor chips.
—Ken Moritsugu and Zen Soo, Quartz, 27 Mar. 2024
Joey’s is known for a wide variety of offerings, with casual bites such as handhelds, wings and pizza, along with entrees such as chicken marsala, fish and chips, and its filet duo.
—Heidi Finley, Charlotte Observer, 27 Mar. 2024
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
Verb
But facing a UConn team that dressed only eight players and played seven, USC chipped away.
—Thuc Nhi Nguyen, Los Angeles Times, 2 Apr. 2024
Having safe, attractive, and well-maintained places to exercise can chip away at community obesity levels.
—Brianna Kamienski, USA TODAY, 27 Mar. 2024
During this process, the team directed the ions to chip away at specific areas of the wafer, thus creating countless, 2-nanometer-thick, 290-nanometer tall spires.
—Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 27 Mar. 2024
These measures concentrate power in the hands of the executive, chipping away at other democratic institutions, such as Congress and the judiciary, that are critical bulwarks against governmental abuse.
—Gustavo Flores-Macías, Foreign Affairs, 20 Mar. 2024
This manicure lasted a week before any signs of wear, proving superior to traditional manicures that often chip within days.
—Kate Watson, Peoplemag, 16 Mar. 2024
But efforts to identify altered imagery can be impeded by the increasingly easy-to-use apps for phones and computers that allow anyone to chip away, piece by piece, at what a camera actually recorded.
—Deepti Hajela, Quartz, 12 Mar. 2024
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
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
Phrases Containing chip
Dictionary Entries Near chip
Cite this Entry
“Chip.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chip. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.
Copy Citation
Kids Definition
chip
1 of 2 noun1
: a small thin flat piece (as of wood, stone, or glass) broken off : flake
2
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
Jeff Wheelwright, Discover
More from Merriam-Webster on chip
Nglish: Translation of chip for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of chip for Arabic Speakers
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