chimingvschippingWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“chiming” and “chipping” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#40,172
“chiming” frequency rank
#23,491
“chipping” frequency rank
63663
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature chiming chipping
Definition present participle and gerund of chime present participle and gerund of chip

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set chiming and chipping apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
chiming
8 ch
chipping

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. chiming (/ˈt͡ʃaɪmɪŋ/) and chipping (/ˈt͡ʃɪpɪŋ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63663, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

chiming is recorded at frequency rank #40,172, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈt͡ʃaɪmɪŋ/. chipping is at rank #23,491, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈt͡ʃɪpɪŋ/.

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 63663, this pair ranks #81,754 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of chiming vs chipping

Shared letters: cghin. Private to "chiming": m. Private to "chipping": p.

"chiming" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCC  ·  "chipping" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • chimingcchiming · chhiming · chiimng · chimign · chimingg · chiminng · chimming · chimnig
  • chippingcchipping · chhipping · chiping · chipipng · chippign · chippingg · chippinng · chippnig

Frequency comparison

chiming#40,172
chipping#23,491

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "chiming" and "chipping" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈt͡ʃaɪmɪŋ/ versus /ˈt͡ʃɪpɪŋ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "chiming" or "chipping"?
"chipping" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,491 in our English list, against #40,172 for "chiming". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering chiming vs chipping

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “chiming” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list