chisel
/ˈt͡ʃɪzəl/noun, verb
chisel is spelled C-H-I-S-E-L: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 30,418th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, chisel means “A cutting tool used to remove parts of stone, wood or metal by pushing or pounding the back when the sharp edge is against the material. It consists…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of chisel is chisels.
How many letters and syllables are in chisel?
| Letters | 6: C-H-I-S-E-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 30,418th 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 chisel?
Chisel appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 30,418th 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 chisel?
- /ˈt͡ʃɪzəl/
Chisel has 2 syllables (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-chisel.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of chisel
- chisels plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- chiseling US, participle, present
- chiselling UK, participle, present
- chiseled US, participle, past
- chiselled UK, participle, past
- chesil
- chissel
- chessil
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does chisel mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A cutting tool used to remove parts of stone, wood or metal by pushing or pounding the back when the sharp edge is against the material. It consists of a slim, oblong block of metal with a sharp wedge or bevel formed on one end and sometimes a handle at the other end; there are hand tool versions (the original type) and versions as bits for power tools.
- 2
A part of any of various tools or devices that has an analogous purpose, cutting raw material or a workpiece during the process that the tool or device performs.
- 3
A part of some ploughs, next to the ploughshare, that helps cut into the soil and deal with obstructions such as rocks, roots, and stems.
Holonyms: plough, plow < implement
- 4
Gravel.
- 5
Coarse flour; bran; the coarser part of bran or flour.
verb
- 1
To use a chisel.
- 2
To work something with a chisel.
She chiselled a sculpture out of the block of wood.
- 3
datedTo barge in on (something); to intrude on (something).
- 4
To make small changes to (something), bit by bit, resulting in change over time.
Laws that protect the environment are being chiseled away.
- 5
informalTo beg or pressure somebody into giving up (something); to haggle excessively; to cheat; to obtain something from (someone) by cheating.
He's managed to chisel a couple dollars from somewhere.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Chisel in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | ciseau, burin , ciseler |
| German | Meißel, Stemmeisen, Beitel, Stechbeitel , meißeln |
| Portuguese | cinzel, escopro , cinzelar |
| Spanish | formón, cincel, escoplo, piqueta, zapapico , cincelar |
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 chisel come from?
From Middle English chisel, chesel, from Old Northern French chisel, cisel, from cisoir (with a change in suffix), from Late Latin cīsōrium (“cutting tool”), from Latin caedō (“cut”). Doublet of scissors.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).