▪ I. chipping, vbl. n.
(ˈtʃɪpɪŋ)
[f. chip v.1]
1. The action of the verb chip; the act of chopping lightly or breaking off small pieces, of cracking or breaking the shell of an egg, etc.
| 1611 Cotgr. s.v. Chapplis..the chipping of bread. 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp., Chipping, a phrase used by the potters and China-men to express that common accident..the flying off of small pieces, or breaking at the edges. 1816 J. Smith Panorama Sc. & Art I. 17 Metals are sometimes wrought by chipping. 1836 Emerson Nature i. Wks. (Bohn) II. 141 A little chipping..patching, and washing. 1865 Tylor Early Hist. Man. viii, Show a vast predominance of chipping over grinding. |
2. concr. † a. A paring of the crust of a loaf. (Usually in
pl.)
Obs.| 1474 in Househ. Ord. (1790) 32 The Pantryes, Chippinges, and broken breade. 1592 Nashe P. Penilesse (ed. 2) F 19 b, Thou hast capt and kneed him..for a chipping. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. iii. i. iii. iii. (1651) 430 Poor Lazarus lies howling..he only seeks chippings. 1727 Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v. Duck, [Ducks] eating such Grain or Chippings as you shall throw to them. |
b. gen. A small piece (of wood, stone, etc.), chipped off,
esp. in dressing or shaping. (Usually
pl. Cf. parings,
cuttings, etc.) Also
fig.| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 75 Chyppynge of ledyr, or clothe, or other lyke, succidia. 1610 Althorp MS. in Simpkinson Washingtons Introd. 6 A little new cesterne of lead, a binge to putt the chipings in. a 1631 Donne Serm. xli. 411 These Chippings of the world, these fragmentary and incoherent Men (who embrace no calling). 1677 Plot Oxfordsh. 244 The chippings of the stone they hew at their Quarry. 1747 Hooson Miner's Dict. 8 j, Scafflings [is] what comes off from the Ore in dressing it..which is called also by the name of Chippings. 1865 Englishm. Mag. Feb. 152 Dealing in parings and chippings of reasoning. |
† 3. Chapping (of the skin).
Obs. exc. dial.| 1545 T. Raynalde Byrth Man. 116 Exulceration or chyppyng of the mouth. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 148 A dogs head made into powder..cureth..the chippings in the fingers. |
4. attrib. as
chipping-axe = chip-axe;
chipping-bit = chipping-piece b.;
chipping-chisel, a cold chisel with a slightly convex face for chipping off the inequalities of cast-iron;
† chipping-knife, a knife used for ‘chipping’ bread (
obs.; see
chip v.
1 1);
chipping-machine, ‘a planing-machine for cutting dye-wood into chips’ (Knight
Dict. Mech.);
chipping-piece (
Founding), ‘a. an elevated cast (or forged) surface, affording surplus metal for reduction by the tools; b. the projecting piece of iron cast on the face of a piece of iron-framing, where it is intended to be fitted against another’ (Knight);
† chipping-time, see
quot. and
chip v.
1 5 (
obs. ?
dial.). So
chipping-block.
| 1611 Cotgr., Epeau, a Coopers *chipping ax. |
| 1849 Specif. Britten's patent No. 12. 548 Instead of the ordinary *chipping bit..I use a set screw. |
| 1601 Q. Eliz. Househ. Bk. in Househ. Ord. (1790) 294 The yeomen [of the Pantry] have for their fees, all the chippings of breade..for the which they find *chipping knives. 1610 Althorp MS. in Simpkinson Washingtons Introd. 8 Itm paring iron, cheeping knives, tosting forke. |
| c 1750 W. Ellis Mod. Husbandman I. i. 2 If it [wheat] has a good sprouting or *shipping-time. |
| 1792 Wolcott (P. Pindar) Ep. on New-Made Lord Wks. 1812 III. 191 The Carpenters..the men of *chipping trade. |
▪ II. ˈchipping, ppl. a. [f. as prec. + -ing2.] 1. That chips; see the verb. In
quot. = germinating (
obs. ?
dial.).
| c 1750 W. Ellis Mod. Husbandm. VI. ii. 5 The chipping part of the wheat, as we call it in Hertfordshire. |
2. Comb. as
chipping-bird, a small species of sparrow (
Spizella passerina) common in the United States;
chipping-sparrow, the chipping-bird;
chipping-squirrel = chipmunk.
| 1791 W. Bartram Trav. Carolina II. 289 Passer domesticus; the little house sparrow or chipping bird. 1810 A. Wilson Amer. Ornith. II. 127 Chipping Sparrow. Fringilla socialis... The Chipping-bird builds his nest most commonly in a cedar bush. 1849 Thoreau Week Concord Riv. Tues. 205 The chipping or striped squirrel. 1861 Mrs. Stowe Pearl Orr's Isl. i. viii. 58 I've seen 'em big as chippin-birds' eggs. 1867 Amer. Naturalist I. 402 Simultaneously with the Bluebird the Chipping Sparrow awakes, and is soon heard chanting his simple cricket-like song from the garden and lawn. 1868 [see chipmunk]. 1869 Burroughs in Galaxy Mag. Aug., The chipping-bird. 1961 O. L. Austin Birds of World 298/2 The friendly song and chipping sparrows nest in shrubbery close to houses. |