▪ I. chip, n.1
(tʃɪp)
Also 5–6 chyppe, chype, 5–7 chippe, 6 chipp, shyppe.
[Found since c 1300: immediately connected with chip v.1; though the sense is not that of a verbal n., as in a cut, a knock, etc.]
1. a. A small, and esp. thin, piece of wood, stone, or other material, separated by hewing, cutting, or breaking; a thin fragment chopped or broken off. (Unless otherwise specified, understood to be of wood, and to mean those made by the woodcutter and carpenter in course of their work.)
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 91 Þat hewis ouer his heued, þe chip falles in his ine. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 75 Chyppe, quisquilie, assula. 1481–90 Howard Househ. Bks. 291 For caryinge of ij. lodes of chippes xd. a 1528 Skelton Col. Cloute 245 Lyke sawdust or drye chyppes. 1555 Eden Decades W. Ind. iii. ii. (Arb.) 144 He broke the dartes into a thousande chyppes. 1599 A. M. tr. Gabelhouer's Bk. Physicke 259/1 Water, wherin hath bin sodden chippes of Iuniper. 1764 Harmer Observ. xiv. v. 226 Lighted by chips of deal full of turpentine, burning in a round iron frame. 1837 Lytton E. Maltrav. (1851) 46 Dry chips..are the things for making a blaze. 1844 P. Parley's Ann. V. 369 The clattering of a chip of tile from the battlements. 1873 Hale In His Name v. 26 Chips on the ground showed that the wood-cutters had taken out some saplings. |
| fig. a 1541 Wyatt Poet. Wks. (1557) 47 That weigh..A chippe of chance more than a pounde of wit. 1575 Churchyard (title) The Firste Part of Churchyarde's Chippes. 1648 Herrick Hesper. (Grosart) II. 169 For kissing love's dissembling chips The fire scortcht my heart. 1655 W. Gurnall Chr. in Arm. xvi. §4 (1669) 66/1 Some indeed he cuts down by Chips in Consumptive diseases, they dye by piece-meals. 1862 Max Müller (title) Chips from a German Workshop. |
b. spec. In gem-cutting, a cleavage which weighs less than three-fourths of a carat (
Cent. Dict. Suppl. 1909).
c. pl. Small pieces of kauri-gum.
| 1916 Chambers's Jrnl. Aug. 542/1 The chief factor influencing sales and prices of kauri-gum in recent years has been the request for the poorer qualities, called ‘chips’ and ‘dust’. |
2. spec. † a. A paring of bread-crust;
= chipping vbl. n. 2 a.
Obs.| c 1440 in Househ. Ord. (1790) 456 With a fewe Chippes of light bred stepet in vernage. 1579 Spenser Sheph. Cal. July 188 Theyr sheepe han crustes, and they the bread; the chippes, and they the chere. |
b. Cookery.
pl. (rarely
sing.). A thin irregular slice of a fruit, etc.
spec. fried pieces of potato,
usu. oblong in shape;
= French fried potatoes,
French fries (
French a. 3); also (chiefly
U.S.)
= crisp n. 7.
Cf. chip-potatoes,
fish and chips (
fish n.1 7).
| 1769 Mrs. Raffald Eng. Housekpr. (1778) 233 Put salt in the water for either oranges preserved, or any kind of orange chips. Ibid. 243 To make Orange Chips. 1796 H. Glasse Cookery xxi. 341 Take your apricots or peaches, pare them and cut them very thin into chips. 1859 Dickens T. Two Cities i. v. 19 Husky chips of potatoes, fried with some reluctant drops of oil. 1886 Chambers's Jrnl. 18 Dec. 808/2 The hand of Zacharias was betrayed in potato chips and cunning sauces. 1893 Funk's Stand. Dict. s.v. Chip1, Saratoga chips, potatoes sliced very thin while raw, and fried crisp. 1899 W. C. Morrow Bohemian Paris 224 Here are..fried-potato women, serving crisp brown chips. 1906 Daily Chron. 13 Oct. 5/7 The chop and chips business. 1951 Good Housek. Home Encycl. 611/1 Place the basket of chips in it [sc. fat] again and fry them until they are golden-brown. 1967 Tit Bits 11 Feb. 7/4 She took a sudden fancy for fish and chips... ‘It tastes better out of a newspaper.’ |
c. Naut. A small quadrant-shaped piece of wood at the end of the log-line.
| 1835 Chambers's Edin. Jrnl. IV. 98/2 The log is simply a flat piece of wood of the form of a quarter of a circle... The wood is called the chip. 1874 Knight Dict. Mech. s.v., The chip is loaded at the circular edge so as to float upright, about two thirds being immersed in water..The chip or log being thrown overboard catches in the water and remains about stationary there, while the cord unwinds as the vessel proceeds. |
d. A counter used in games of chance; hence,
slang a sovereign. Also
colloq. (
orig. U.S.), a piece of money;
pl. money. So
to buy chips: to invest;
(when) the chips are down: (when) it comes to the point (see
point n.1 A. 22 b);
in the chips: moneyed, affluent.
| 1840 in Amer. Speech (1965) XL. 182 He is perfectly willing to ‘pile the chips’ for any distance. 1859 Hotten Dict. Slang, Chips, money. 1873 Slang Dict., Chips, money. 1877 W. Black Green Past. III. xiv. 226 The chips must be paid. 1882 [see straddle v. 7]. 1883 M. E. Braddon Phantom Fortune xli. (1884) 355 Divers values, from the respectable ‘pony’ to the modest ‘chip’. 1903 A. H. Lewis The Boss 205 There was a saw-bones here,..pawin' me over for a life insurance game that I thought I'd buy chips in. 1905 Daily Chron. 11 Sept. 2/6 It is..quite a commonplace remark to hear young men boast of the time when ‘the old man turns up his toes’, and they can ‘collar the chips’. 1919 W. H. Downing Digger Dial. 58 Chip, a rupee. 1925 Chambers's Jrnl. 424/2 I'll give you ten chips myself. 1938 A. J. Liebling Back where I came From 68 Never to have been in the chips marks one as a punk. 1943 G. Marx Lett. (1967) 49 The previews are always more fun than the actual shows. Since the chips are not down, everyone is at ease and the audience senses it. 1945 H. I. Phillips Pte. Purkey's Private Peace 10 He had..established himself as a tough battler when the chips were down. 1949 in Wentworth & Flexner Dict. Amer. Slang (1960) 101/2 When the chips are down a man shows what he really is. 1950 J. Dempsey Championship Fighting 179 But when the chips are down, rhythm is destroyed. 1957 Wodehouse Over Seventy iv. 55 When I was in the chips and an employer of butlers. 1959 Spectator 25 Sept. 399/3 For the fact is that when the chips are down, the Right wing of the Tory Party comes up. |
e. Slang phrases:
to pass (or hand) in one's chips (
U.S.), to die (
cf. check n.1 15);
to have had one's chips, to be beaten, finished, killed, etc.
| 1879 Missouri Republican (St. Louis) 22 Oct. 3/7 If you wish to express the demise of a friend..in Southern Colorado..it would be more elegant to say that ‘he'd passed in his chips’. 1890 Harper's Mag. Feb. 351/2 Ye kin bet yer life I ain't afeard o' passin' in my chips. 1891 Farmer Slang II. 95/1 To hand in one's chips, to die. 1907 Mulford Bar-20 xi. 130 He passed in his chips last night. 1936 J. A. McKenna Black Range Tales 56 Several cowboys passed in their chips in that snowstorm. 1936 Amer. Speech XI. 200/2 Handed in his chips. 1959 I. & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolch. xvii. 376 You've had your chips. 1960 G. Durrell Zoo in Luggage viii. 189 ‘Cor!’ said the constable, in a voice of deep emotion, ‘I thought I'd 'ad me chips that time.’ 1961 Technology May 131/1 The St. Albans lot will have had their chips by this time next week. |
f. Electronics. A tiny square of thin semi-conducting material which by suitable etching, doping, etc., is designed to function as a large number of circuit components and which can be incorporated with other similar squares to form an integrated circuit.
| 1962 B. G. Bender in G. W. A. Dummer Microminiaturization 139 A device must have a semiconductor element in any event, but economical techniques have been developed for producing chips for the Microseal component effort which have advanced the state of the art. 1967 Times Rev. Industry Mar. 46/1 The size of the wafers varies, but it is not uncommon for one about the size of a penny to carry several hundred tiny squares known as ‘chips’, each containing anything from about 20 to perhaps 600 components. 1970 Sci. Amer. Feb. 22/1 Ten years ago..a chip of silicon a tenth of an inch square might hold 10 to 20 transistors, together with a few diodes, capacitors and resistors. Today such chips can contain well over 1,000 separate electronic components. |
3. Applied to the keys of a spinet or harpsichord (
quot. 1600), chessmen (
quot. 1645), etc.
| c 1600 Shakes. Sonn. cxxviii, To be so tikled they [my lips] would change their state, And situation with those dancing chips, Ore whome thy fingers walke. 1645 Bp. Hall Contentation 37 A skilful player will not stirre one of these Chips, but with intention of an advantage. |
4. a. As a material: Wood (or woody fibre) split into thin strips for making hats and bonnets.
| 1771 [see 9]. 1784 Cowper Lett. 21 Mar., A fashionable hat..a black one, if they are worn; otherwise chip. 1866 Treas. Bot. 270 Chip, a material used for plaiting into various articles of ornament and use, and obtained from the leaves of the palm called Thrinax argentea. 1888 Bow Bells 22 June 3 Some of these [bonnets] in chip or crinoline. |
b. Also for making baskets. Hence,
ellipt. for
chip basket (see 9 below).
| 1922 J. Joyce in Q. Rev. Oct. 230 Chips of strawberries. 1923 Westm. Gaz. 15 Jan. 8/5 4lb. chips of apples. 1928 Daily Express 28 May 5/3 In Hampshire..these baskets contain two to four pounds, and are termed ‘chips’. 1955 Times 14 Aug. 10/4 The fat fruits were laid out in their regulation blue-lined punnets and chips. |
5. Taken as the type of
a. anything worthless or trifling (see also
not to care a chip, etc., in 8.);
b. anything without flavour, innutritious, or ‘dry’, dried up, scorched, parched.
| a 1639 W. Whately Prototypes ii. xxv. (1640) 46 He takes not the chips for excellent things, but reckons of them as of chips. 1675 Brooks Gold. Key Wks. 1867 V. 272 All the honours, riches, greatness, and glory of this world are but chips, toys, and pebbles to these glorious pearls. 1725 D. North in North Lives II. 303 We had in the ship..fresh mutton..but all was chip to me. 1792 A. Young Trav. France 23 They roast every thing to a chip. 1857 Holland Bay Path viii. 100 Discussing some dry chip of a doctrine. 1859 Jephson Brittany xiv. 235 They [boots] were burned to a chip. |
c. A piece of dried buffalo- or cattle-dung.
N. Amer. (
Cf. buffalo-chips s.v. buffalo 5.)
| 1846 E. Bryant What I saw in Calif. (1848) vii. 102 Bacon broiled on a stick over a fire of buffalo chips. 1857 W. Chandless Visit Salt Lake I. iv. 61 Buffalo were looked for; a solitary ‘chip’—so the buffalo droppings are called—found one evening caused quite an excitement in our camp. 1903 A. Adams Log Cowboy xiv. 209 We had begun to feel the scarcity of wood for cooking purposes... These chips were a poor substitute. 1960 D. E. Bublitz Life on Dotted Line xv. 98 There were no chips or wood around, so we meandered into the schoolhouse. |
6. a. fig. Something forming a portion of, or derived from, a larger or more important thing, of which it retains the characteristic qualities. Usually applied to persons.
| [1658 Osborn Adv. Son (1673) 221 As most of the small Princes beyond the Alps, are themselves, or their wives, chips of the Cross.] 1815 Scribbleomania 2, I rank with the Nine a true chip of Apollo. 1822 W. Irving Braceb. Hall xiii. 116 A dry chip of the University. 1873 Slang Dict. s.v. Chip, Brother chip, one of the same trade or profession. Originally brother carpenter, now general. 1884 Birmingham Daily Post 28 July 5/1 Even a Parnellite will help a brother chip when he is in distress. |
b. † chip of the same block: a person or thing derived from the same source or parentage.
chip of the old block: one that resembles his father, or reproduces the family characteristics; also applied to things; now
freq. a chip off the old block.
| 1621 Sanderson Serm. I. 205. 1627 Ibid. 283 Am not I a child of the same Adam..a chip of the same block, with him? 1642 Milton Apol. Smect. (1851) 297 How well dost thou now appeare to be a Chip of the old block. 1655 Lestrange Chas. I, 126 Episcopacy, which they thought but a great chip of the old block Popery. 1660 R. Coke Power & Subj. 266 b, One Mr. Coke (a true Chip of the old Block). 1693 W. Robertson Phraseol. Gen. 265 A chip of the old block, Patris est filius. 1751 Smollett Per. Pic. lxxxiii. 1833 A. Fonblanque Eng. under 7 Administ. II. 318 The crab is its mother's child—a chip of the old block. 1929 H. E. Bates Seven Tales & Alex. 40 He's my son, and he's a chip off the old block, and I'm proud of him. 1947 W. S. Maugham Creatures of Circumstance 7 His heir was a nephew..not a bad boy, but not a chip off the old block, no, sir, far from it. 1966 D. Varaday Gara-Yaka's Domain v. 51 He was a true chip off the old block. |
c. pl. (A nickname for) a carpenter,
esp. on a ship. (Usu. with capital initial.)
| 1785 in Grose Dict. Vulg. Tongue. 1851 Chambers' Paper No. 52, 20 (Farmer), The carpenter..was not offended..at being called chips even by the black cuddy servant. 1927 J. Sampson Seven Seas Shanty Bk. 47 A handy Chips to drive the nails. 1943 C. H. Ward-Jackson Piece of Cake 21 Chips, chippy or chippy rigger, an airman of the trade of carpenter or carpenter rigger. 1959 I. & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolch. xvii. 362 The gardening master is commonly ‘Spuds’, the wood-work teacher is ‘Chips’. |
7. a. A crack or slight fracture caused by chipping.
b. dial. An act of chipping, a cut with an axe, or adze.
| a 1889 Mod. colloq. One of the cups has got a chip on the edge. South Scotch. Let me take a chip at the tree. |
8. Phrases.
† chip in one's eye, etc. (
obs.; see
quots.).
not to care, etc., a chip (sense 5).
† such carpenters, such chips: as is the workman, such is his work.
chip in porridge (pottage, broth): an addition which does neither good nor harm, a thing of no moment.
a chip on one's shoulder (
orig. U.S.), carried as a challenge to others (see earlier
quots.); hence, a display of defiance or ill-humour; an unforgotten grievance; a sense of inferiority characterized by a quickness to take offence.
| 1330 [see 1]. c 1400 Test. Love i. (1560) 279 b/2, For an old Proverbe it is ledged, He that heweth to hie, with chippes he may lese his sight. c 1430 Lydg. in Anglia IX. ii. 112 Me list nat to hewe chippes ouer myn hede. c 1530 R. Hilles Common-pl. Bk. (1858) 140 Clyme not to hye lest chypys fall yn thyn eie. 1556 J. Heywood Spider & Fl. xxxix. 52 Thei differ not a chip. 1562 ― Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 14 So playde these twayne, as mery as three chipps. Ibid. ii. vii. Suche Carpenters, suche chips. 1577 Stanyhurst Descr. Irel. iii. in Holinshed VI. 17, I weigh not two chips which waie the wind bloweth. 1580 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 467 Looketh high, as one yat feareth no chips. 1603 Breton Dignitie or Indig. of Men 197 Who looketh hye, may have ‘a Chip fall in his Eye’. 1675 Cotton Scoffer Scoft 115, I know, but care not of a Chip. 1686 Goad Celest. Bodies i. xvii. 108 The Sextile is no Chip in Broth..but a very considerable Engine. 1688 Vox Cleri Pro Rege 56 A sort of Chip in Pottage, which (he hopes) will not do Popery much good, nor the Church of England much harm. 1830 Long Isl. Tel. (Hempstead, N.Y.) 20 May 3/5 When two churlish boys were determined to fight, a chip would be placed on the shoulder of one, and the other demanded to knock it off at his peril. 1855 Weekly Oregonian 17 Mar. (Th.), Leland, in his last issue, struts out with a chip on his shoulder, and dares Bush to knock it off. 1868 Holme Lee B. Godfrey xxxi. 164 Basil did not care a chip. 1880 Ch. Times 25 June (D.), The Burials Bill..is thought..to resemble the proverbial chip in porridge, which does neither good nor harm. 1887 Harper's Mag. Oct. 658/1 The way that dog went about with a chip on his shoulder..was enough to spoil the sweetest temper. 1903 N.Y. Sun 1 Nov., Who, they say, wears a chip on his shoulder because he didn't get the Republican nomination for City Treasurer. 1905 Amer. Illustr. Mag. Nov. 88 Each boy had a sort of chip-on-the-shoulder air. 1930 W. S. Maugham Gentl. in Parlour xliv. 271 He was a man with a chip on his shoulder. Everyone seemed in a conspiracy to slight or injure him. 1952 W. J. H Sprott Social Psychol. 220 If you are spoiling for a fight you go about with a ‘chip on the shoulder’ challenging anyone to knock it off. 1956 J. Cannan People to be Found ix. 148, I got him the sack—months ago but all this time he's been carrying a chip on his shoulder. |
9. a. attrib. and
Comb., as
chip-bonnet chip-hat (see 4);
chip basket, a basket made of strips of thin wood roughly interwoven or joined, used chiefly for packing fruit for the market; also
attrib.;
chip-bird U.S. = chipping bird,
chipping ppl. a. 2;
chip-board, a type of pasteboard made by compressing waste paper or wood refuse;
† chip-box, a small box made of thin wood;
chip-carving, carving in which the patterns are produced by chipping out the material; so
chip-carve v. trans.,
chip-carved ppl. a.,
chip-carver;
chip-heater Austral., a domestic water-heater which burns wood chips;
chip-potatoes = chips (2 b);
chip-shop, a shop selling fish and chips;
chip-shot Golf, a short lofted approach-shot on to the putting-green; also, a similar lofted shot in
Assoc. Football, etc.; also
fig.;
chip-sparrow U.S. = chipping-sparrow (
chipping ppl. a. 2);
chip-straw (
cf. chip n.1 4);
chip-yard U.S., a wood-cutting yard. See also
chip-axe.
| 1921 Dict. Occup. Terms (1927) §472 Chip basket maker;..plaits together..narrow strips of shavings of thin wood to make.. chip baskets. |
| 1824 Massachusetts Yeoman 28 Apr. (Th.), The destruction of a robin, chip, blue or black bird is not all. 1871 J. R. Lowell My Study Windows 15 The only bird I have ever heard sing in the night has been the chip-bird. 1872 Coues Key N. Amer. Birds 142 Chipping Sparrow, Chipbird or Chippy. Hairbird. |
| 1919 Fibre Containers IV. x. 26 (heading) Manufacture of jute and chip board. 1953 Archit. Rev. CXIII. 398 The floor finishes downstairs..are quarry-tiles and plastic-bonded chipboard. 1954 Paper Terminology (Spalding & Hodge) 17 Chipboard, a cheap quality of board made from mixed waste and used in the manufacture of cartons, etc. |
| 1820 S. Breck in Recoll. (1877) 298 She has gone on..bedecking herself in merino shawls, chip bonnets, &c. 1845 M. M. Noah Gleanings 65 On her little head she wore a good sized chip bonnet, decorated with artificial flowers. |
| 1759 Ellis in Phil. Trans. LI. 211 These seven parcels were all put into chip boxes. 1810 Ann. Reg. 418 Wooden boxes called chip-boxes or pill boxes. |
| 1948 R. Heine-Geldern Indonesian Art 157 Water jar..chip-carved when the ware was in the ‘leathery’ stage before firing. 1951 T. H. Ormsbee Field Guide to Early Amer. Furnit. vii. 182 Chip Carved Chest of Drawers. Has stile and rail construction. Carcase contains two or three full-width drawers that are fitted with turned wooden knobs. 1957 Childe Dawn Europ. Civilization (ed. 6) vi. 95 There are indeed analogies to Veselinovo handles and to the ‘chip-carved’ lamps in Anatolia. 1961 Antiquaries Jrnl. XLI. 107 The ‘chip-carved’ buckles, cast and not chiselled by hand, were mass-produced by provincial Roman workshops for the army of the late fourth century. |
| 1892 E. Rowe Chip-Carving 47 Instructions to the chip-carver. |
| 1888 Queen 29 Sept., Suppl., Chip-Carving. 1902 Westm. Gaz. 26 Apr. 7/3 Examples of bent-iron work, and wood and chip carving. 1927 F. B. Young Portrait of Clare 437 When she came to look more closely, there was the face of Edith Wilburn framed, not in plush, but chip-carving. 1935 Discovery Nov. 337 Examples of Kentish chip-carving jewellery of the Anglo-Saxon period. |
| 1759 Newport Mercury 26 June 4/3 Imported..silver'd Paper, chip and black Satten Hats. 1771 Smollett Humph. Cl. 26 Apr., The ladies wear..chip hats. 1859 W. S. Coleman Woodlands (1862) 63 The wood of the White Willow has been extensively used in the manufacture of chip-hats. 1880 Drapers' Jrnl. 27 May 5/2 A chip hat to match the dark shade of broché. 1913 C. Mackenzie Sinister Street iv. vi. 987 That girl in her chip hat, holding a bunch of cherries. |
| 1946 K. Tennant Lost Haven (1947) vii. 95 Grandpa led the way to the bathroom and expected the guest to admire the bath and the chip-heater! 1965 G. McInnes Road to Gundagai v. 76 The woodshed for the logs to be split into chips for the copper and for the ‘chip-heater’ in the bathroom. |
| 1916 Home Chat 9 Sept. 432 Dinner 2. Salmis of Game. Potato Chips. Greengage Tart... The Chip Potatoes. Fry these as usual. [etc.]. |
| 1807 Vancouver Agric. Devon (1813) 51 A deep..bed of chip sand, affording very good whetstones. |
| 1953 H. Clevely Public Enemy xxvii. 219 Joe's chip shop. |
| 1909 Westm. Gaz. 10 June 12/4 Chip shots which he laid within two feet of the pin. 1919 Wodehouse Damsel in Distress iii, ‘Not at all,’ said George, trying a sort of vocal chip-shot out of the corner of his mouth. 1963 Times 19 Feb. 4/7 Easton raised Gravesend's hopes with a chip shot that was only inches wide. |
| 1852 Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. xvi. 191 Then she sat on his knee like a chip sparrow, still laughing. |
| 1898 Westm. Gaz. 28 Apr. 3/2 Chip straw is again to the fore, indeed, forms the foundation of some of the most exclusive hats. |
| 1850 Knickerbocker XXXVI. 73, I..crossed her chip-yard. 1863 Mrs. Whitney Faith Gartney's Girlh. xiv, The spicy smell of the chip-yard round the corner where the scraps of pine lay..under the summer sun. 1891 M. E. Ryan Pagan of Alleghenies xix. 232 Two men..halted out at the chip-yard. |
b. Short for
chip-shot.
| 1909 Westm. Gaz. 9 June 14/3 He was short with his chip on to the green at the fourth. 1958 Times 30 Oct. 3/5 Littlewood..finished..winning all four holes and holing his chip at the eighteenth. 1961 Ibid. 20 Feb. 14/2 His chip for the far post was helped on its way past George by Ellis's head. |
Add:
[9.] [a.] chip card, a card (
card n.1 6 h) incorporating a microchip that stores information about transactions and provides security against misuse.
| 1980 Amer. Banker 19 May 21/1 The important aspect of the chip in card technology is that the degree of security in a semiconductor chip card appears to be far superior to other card products in the marketplace. 1985 Times 21 Mar. 35/3 (Advt.), Technological developments in banking (e.g. eftpos, atm reciprocity, chip cards, network linking..) are dependent upon standards being agreed amongst the many interested parties. |
▸
chip van n. Brit. and
Irish English a van (fitted with a small cooking area and service hatch) which sells fish and chips and other takeaway food.
| 1953 Times 20 Nov. 2/6 The plaintiff also claims a declaration that a resolution..that he did not meet the qualifications of a ‘stall-holder’ while operating his mobile stall or ‘*chip van’, was ultra vires and void. 1997J. Gough in S. Champion & D. Scannell Shenanigans (1999) iii. 55 Connolly's Illegal Chip-Van was already busy serving the first wave of drunken clubbers. |
▪ II. † chip, n.2 Obs. Forms: 1
cipp, 5
chyppe.
[OE. cipp, corresp. to Du. kip neut. ‘small strip of wood in the plough which holds fast the ploughshare’, ad. L. cippus ‘post, stake, beam of the stocks’, app. also in later times in this sense: cf. chep.] The share-beam of a plough; also,
perh., (like L.
dentalis) the share itself.
| c 1000 ælfric Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 102 Dentale, cipp. a 1500 Metr. Voc. ibid. 628 Cultur, dentale, vomerque [glossed] cultere, chyppe, chare. |
▪ III. chip, n.3 Wrestling.
(
tʃɪp)
[f. chip v.2] 1. The technical term for: A trip, a trick, a special mode of throwing one's opponent.
| 1830 Blackw. Mag. XXVIII. 109 He..knows a chip or two in wrestling. 1883 in Standard 24 Mar. 3/7 It is amongst the lighter men that the prettiest chips are seen. 1886 Pall Mall G. 23 Aug. 4/1 Mr. Steadman's favourite ‘chip’ is the ‘long leg strike’. |
2. A quarrel, tiff.
dial.| 1877 Holderness Gloss. s.v., We've nivver had a chip sin we was wed. |
▪ IV. chip, v.1 (
tʃɪp)
[In ME. found only since the middle of 15th c., but prob. in OE. *cippian: Lye cites forcyppod = ‘præcisus’, from gloss to Canticum Ezechiæ, where another gloss has forcorfen. EFris. has kippen to cut, and MDu., MLG. kippen to chip eggs, to hatch; implying the existence of at least an OLG. (Saxon) kippan. But the earlier history of the whole group is uncertain; as is also the relation of chip to chap, chop. In actual modern use, chip is in sense 2 used in Scotland = chop; in sense 3 it is treated in Eng. as having the same relation to chop, that tip, drip have to top, drop, i.e. it expresses a slighter and more delicate action.] † 1. a. to chip bread: to pare it by cutting away the crust.
Obs.| 1461–83 in Househ. Ord. 71 Them oweth to chippe bredde, but not too nye the crumme. 1513 Bk. Keruynge in Babees Bk. 266 Chyppe your soueraynes brede hote. 1554 Rhodes Bk. Nurture ibid. 66 In your offyce of the Pantrye, see that your bread be chipped and squared. 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, ii. iv. 259 Hee would haue made a good Pantler, hee would haue chipp'd Bread well. 1634 Althorp MS. in Simpkinson Washingtons Introd. 17 To Furley 4 days chipping bread 00 01 04. 1725 Bailey Erasm. Colloq. 193 He brings Bread, which the Guests may chip every one for themselves. 1727 Pope, etc. Art Sinking 113 Uncork the bottle, and chip the bread. |
† b. So
to chip or chip away the crust.
Obs.| 1586 Cogan Haven Health iv. (1636) 27 The utter crusts above and beneath should be chipped away. 1709 W. King Cookery 590 'Tis ev'n so the butler chips his crust. |
2. trans. generally, To hew or cut with an axe or adze, or with strokes from any other cutting tool. (In South of Scotland the proper word for to cut with an axe, to ‘chop’.)
| 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. v. v. 34 His mangled Myrmidons. That noselesse, handlesse, hackt and chipt, come to him. 1699 W. Dampier Voy. II. ii. ii. 57 The sap is white and the heart is red: the heart is used much for dying; therefore we chip off all the white sap, till we come to the heart. 1730 Thomson Autumn 82 Industry..Taught him [the savage] to chip the wood. 1783 Ainsworth Lat. Dict. (Morell) s.v. Ax, Chipped with an ax, dolabratus. 1832 G. Porter Porcelain & Gl. 235 The workman..cuts, or rather chips, the pipe into pieces of the requisite size. 1883 Haslam Yet not I 17 Busy chipping and cutting wood. |
3. To break off (by a sharp blow with anything hard) small fragments from wood, stone, or other hard substances (especially from an edge); to reduce or shape by thus removing small portions at a time. (In this sense it is in use a kind of
dim. of
chop.)
a. with the substance as
obj.| 1859 Handbk. Turning 9 Do not push them roughly against the wood.. or you will spoil their edge, and chip the work. 1872 Ellacombe Bells of Ch. ix. 260 Chipping, and modulating the sound of every bell. 1876 Green Short Hist. ix. §1 (1882) 588 Statues were chipped ruthlessly into decency. |
b. with the fragments as
obj. (with
off,
from, etc.)
| 1862 Dana Man. Geol. 539 Coming to the edge of a layer..they have occasionally chipped it off. 1866 Kingsley Herew. vii. 131 They chipped several small pieces of stone from the walls. 1872 Morley Voltaire (1886) 261 Men who chipped bits of rock and cherished fossils. |
c. with the product as
obj.: To produce or make by chipping.
| 1851 D. Jerrold St. Giles xxi. 214 As nice an epitaph as was ever chipped by stone-cutter. |
d. intr. (for
refl.)
| 1753 [see chipping vbl. n. 1.] 1803 Med. Jrnl. IX. 491 It is extremely brittle, chipping on the smallest fall or shock. c 1865 J. Wylde in Circ. Sc. I. 23/2 This often causes the earthy matter to ‘chip’ off. |
e. intr. To make chipping strokes.
| 1908 A. Bennett Buried Alive x. 248 Muscular, hairy males..were chipping and paring at huge blocks of stone. |
† 4. a. trans. To crack or fissure the surface of; to chap;
= chap v.
1 3.
Obs. exc. dial.| 1508 Fisher On Ps. cii. Wks. 148 After the erth be brent, chyned, and chypped by the hete of the sonne. 1580 Lyly Euphues 12 b, The beauty [of a fine face]..parched with the Sunnes blaze, and chipped with the Winters blast. |
b. intr. (for
refl.)
| 1855 Whitby Gloss., Chip, to chop as the lips or hands in frosty weather. |
† 5. intr. Of seeds or buds: To break open, burst, germinate; to break into leaf or blossom.
| 1513 Douglas æneis xii. Prol. 124 The rois knoppis..Gan chyp, and kyth thare vernale lippis red. 1681 S. Colvil Whigs Supplic. (1751) 100 When bushes budded, and trees did chip [note, blossom]. 1734 Curteis in Phil. Trans. XXXVIII. 275, I sow the Seed pretty thick, and in forty-eight Hours it will begin to chip. |
6. a. trans. Of chickens, etc.: To crack and break away (the egg-shell) in hatching.
| 1606 Warner Alb. Eng. xv. xcvii. 387 Then had Churchpride chipped Shell. 1818 Scott Rob Roy xxxv, ‘In comes Rashleigh and chips the shell, and out bangs the wonder amang us.’ 1823 Byron Age of Bronze v, Thou isle!.. That saw'st the unfledged eaglet chip his shell! 1823 ― Island iv. ii, The young turtle, crawling from his shell, Steals to the deep..Chipp'd by the beam, a nursling of the day. |
b. transf. To crack or break the shell of a nut.
| 1846 Landor Exam. Shaks. Wks. 1846 II. 273 The little tame squirrel that chippeth his nuts. |
7. Austral. and
N.Z. To harrow (ground).
Cf. chop.
| 1798–1802 D. Collins N.S. Wales 24 The following prices of labour were now established: Chipping fresh ground, 12s. 3d. per acre; Chipping in wheat, 7s. 1818 J. Holt in Mem. (1838) II. 91 Twenty shillings per acre for breaking the ground..and ten for chipping (the name used in New South Wales for harrowing). 1846 C. J. Pharazyn Jrnl. 24 Oct. 61 (MS.), Sowed 4 rods more barley chipped it in after dusk. 1849 C. Hursthouse Settl. New Plymouth vii. 98 For its first grain crop the seed can be ‘chipped-in’ for 10s. per acre more. |
8. chip in (
colloq.):
a. to interpose smartly, ‘cut in’; to ‘butt’ in.
Cf. chop in. Also
trans.| c 1870 B. Harte In the Tunnel, Just you chip in, Say you knew Flynn. 1888 Star 12 Dec. 3/3 Justice Smith here chipped in with the remark that counsel..had not curtailed their cross-examination. 1903 A. H. Lewis The Boss 271 Madam, let me chip in a word. 1906 E. Dyson Fact'ry 'Ands iii. 36 She's been goin' to marry me, more 'r less for a year, an' now you've chipped-in. |
b. To put in or stake chips (
intr. and trans.).
| 1891 ‘L. Hoffmann’ Cycl. Card & Table Games 203 Each person puts up an agreed amount by way of ante... To avoid dispute as to whose turn it may be, a pocket-knife, known as the ‘buck’, is passed round, resting with the player whose turn it is to ‘chip’ for the remainder. 1892 Florence Handbk. Poker 89 To chip in, to put counters on the table. Equivalent to entering into the game. Ibid. 158 Every time my callow friend won a pot he put the silver and bills in his pocket and would chip in the stuff as he needed it. |
c. To contribute; to make a contribution. Also
absol. orig. U.S.| 1861 Winsted (Conn.) Herald 22 Nov., An idea..that the printer should ‘chip in’ to every charitable and religious operation. 1886 Harper's Mag. Dec. 36 ‘Here's a dollar!’ ‘Here's another!’ And they all chipped in their share. 1888 Amer. Mag. Sept. (Farmer), A man who won't chip in to charity is always an object of suspicion. 1903 N.Y. Sun 15 Nov., Nevertheless they all chipped in for the benefit of Simpson's widow and little child next day. 1908 S. E. White Riverman ix. 80 Why, there isn't a man on that river who doesn't chip in five or ten dollars when a man is hurt or killed. 1953 P. Frankau Winged Horse iv. 280 David will know somebody who can chip in. 1960 Commentary June 487/1 The help of the Ford Foundation (which chipped in more than $100,000). |
¶ 9. to chip at: to aim a blow at, peck at, hit at, pick a quarrel with; also, to poke fun at. Hence
trans. (by omission of
at), to make (a person) the object of a joke, to chaff, banter; to find fault with; also
absol. [Of uncertain position: possibly related to next in sense c.]
| 1803 Month. Mag. XIV. 326 Geddes..has translated more of it..in a manner which it is the utmost of erudition to chip at, and of taste to criticize. 1888 Pall Mall G. 18 Feb. 7/2 So direct were his allusions to us that a prisoner whispered to me, ‘He is chipping at you, Burns’. 1896 Westm. Gaz. 13 Jan. 6/2 The friends of the contending teams each ‘chipped’ and jeered at the other. 1898 Daily News 20 Aug. 5/4, I chipped them a little on their plump, well-fed condition. 1915 Even. News 24 Nov. 3/4 People have been telling me I'm a German and chipping me, and I wish to get it over. 1928 Daily Express 23 Feb. 6 Letitia Pilkington..was a sportswoman. She even chipped her confessor on her deathbed. 1929 K. S. Prichard Coonardoo 41 Here, what are you chippin' about? 1958 ‘N. Shute’ Rainbow & Rose iii. 91 They chipped us about having tarried on the way. |
10. intr. and trans. To play a chip-shot; to hit or kick (the ball) with a chip-shot.
| 1923 Daily Mail 8 May 12 He chipped to within eighteen inches of the hole. 1959 Times 29 May 5/2 He also won the second [hole] by chipping close. Ibid. 31 Aug. 12/2 Jones..drew the defence and chipped the ball to Medwin. 1969 New Yorker 14 June 44/3 Graebner, instead of hitting out, chips the ball back—the cautious thing to do. |
Add:
11. Comb. chip-in Golf, a chip shot which holes the ball.
| 1977 Washington Post 5 Sept. d3/1 That made three birdies including the chip-in. 1986 Golf Monthly July 165/1 Clark won the Madrid Open with the aid of a chip-in. |
▪ V. chip, v.2 Chiefly
north. (
tʃɪp)
[Known in books only since the 18th c.; but perh. cognate with ON. kippa ‘to scratch, pull’, refl. ‘to struggle, also to make a sudden motion, quiver convulsively’, also with Du. kippen to seize, catch, ensnare. Relation to chip v.1 is uncertain.] a. trans. To trip up, cause to stumble (
esp. in wrestling).
b. intr. To step along nimbly, trip along.
c. intr. To fall
out, to quarrel.
| a , b. 1788 Marshall Rur. Econ. Gloss., Chip, to trip: as, ‘to chip up the heels’: or, to ‘chip a fall’: as in wrestling. 1855 Whitby Gloss., To Chip up, or rather ‘to be chipped up’, to be tripped up, as by the foot catching a stone. 1876 Robinson Mid-Yorksh. Gloss., Chip, to trip or cause to stumble. 1878 Cumberld. Gloss., Chip, to trip: a term in wrestling. |
| c. 1877 Holderness Gloss., Chip, to quarrel. ‘We chip'd oot.’ 1878 N.W. Lincolnsh. Gloss., Chip, to quarrel. ‘They chipped about the election for coroner, and hev never spok to one another sin.’ 1881 Leicestersh. Gloss., Chip out, to fall out. ‘They chipped out while they were drinkin'.’ |