chip
/t͡ʃɪp/noun, verb
chip is spelled C-H-I-P: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 20 times per million words in written English, the 4,224th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, chip means “A small piece broken from a larger piece of solid material” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of chip is chips.
How many letters and syllables are in chip?
| Letters | 4: C-H-I-P |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 20 times per million words; the 4,224th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is chip?
Chip appears 20 times per million words in written English, the 4,224th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce chip?
- /t͡ʃɪp/
- [t͡ʃʰɪp]
Chip has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-chip.ogg, EN-AU_ck1_chip.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of chip
- chips plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- chipping participle, present
- chipped participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does chip mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A small piece broken from a larger piece of solid material.
The floor of the sculptor's studio was strewn with chips of marble.
- 2
A damaged area of a surface where a small piece has been broken off.
This cup has a chip in it.
- 3
A token used in place of cash.
- 4
A medallion.
- 5
datedslangA sovereign (the coin).
- 6
A circuit fabricated in one piece on a small, thin substrate; a microchip.
- 7
A hybrid device mounted in a substrate, containing electronic circuitry and miniaturised mechanical, chemical or biochemical devices.
- 8
AustraliaIrelandUKarchaicA deep-fried strip of potato; see also usage note at French fries.
Do you want ketchup, mustard, or mayonnaise on your chips?
verb
- 1
To chop or cut into small pieces.
The workers chipped the dead branches into mulch.
- 2
To break small pieces from.
Be careful not to chip the paint.
- 3
To become chipped.
This varnish chips easily.
- 4
To chisel (something), to chisel on (something).
The fitter was chipping and filing a workpiece clamped in his vise.
- 5
To use a chisel.
The fitters were chipping and filing furiously to meet their deadline.
- 6
To strike or play (the ball or other implement) as a chip shot.
- 7
To beat (an opposing player) by use of a chip shot, such as by looping the ball over the head of the opposing goalkeeper.
- 8
To move (a ball) a relatively short distance by means of an oblique contact.
In potting the black, he also managed to chip the red off the side cushion.
- 9
UKslangTo leave.
noun
- 1
Abbreviation of chromatin immunoprecipitation.
noun
- 1
An officer of the California Highway Patrol.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Chip in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | brisure, fragment , ébréchure, coche , puce électronique , chips |
| German | Splitter, Span, Bruchstück , Macke , Chip, Spielmarke |
| Portuguese | lasca, fragmento , chipe, circuito integrado , ficha |
| Spanish | astilla, cepa, fragmento , desconchado, mella, portillo |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does chip come from?
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”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).