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# chip

«chip» in Mova's school dictionary: **a small piece broken off something hard, like wood, stone…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (a chip, chips); verb (chip, chips, chipped, chipping)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A chip is a small piece broken off something hard, like wood, stone or a plate. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/chip/#m1)

2) A chip is the small mark left where a piece broke off, like a chip in a mug. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/chip/#m2)

3) In the UK, Ireland, Australia and NZ, chips are long pieces of fried potato (called «fries» in the US). [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/chip/#m3)

4) In the US and Canada, chips are thin crunchy slices of potato from a packet (called «crisps» in the UK and Ireland). [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/chip/#m4)

5) A computer chip is a tiny piece of material with circuits that makes electronic things work. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/chip/#m5)

6) To chip means to break a small piece off, or to kick or hit a ball gently into the air. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/chip/#m6)

7) A chip can be a small counter used in games, or a microchip in a pet. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/chip/#m7)

### sense in the lessons

Everyday: fish and chips, a chipped mug, a chocolate chip cookie, a microchip in your cat or dog with an ID number. In science and technology lessons: computer chips are inside phones, tablets and calculators. Safety: throw away chipped glass and china because it can cut. Phrases: «chip in» (give some money or help), «a chip off the old block» (like a parent), «a chip on your shoulder» (feeling hard done by), «when the chips are down» (when things are difficult).

### examples

- We had fish and chips at the seaside. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/chip/#x1)
- There's a chip in my favourite mug. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/chip/#x2)
- Can I have a packet of chips? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/chip/#x3)
- Chocolate chip cookies are my favourite. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/chip/#x4)
- The phone has a tiny computer chip inside. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/chip/#x5)
- Our dog has a microchip so he can be found if he gets lost. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/chip/#x6)
- She chipped the ball over the goalkeeper. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/chip/#x7)
- Everyone chipped in to buy the teacher a present. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/chip/#x8)
- Throw away chipped glasses, as they can cut you. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/chip/#x9)
- There goes a shaving thinking of nothing in the world but of itself, a mere chip! [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/chip/#x10)

### note

Big trap between countries: UK «chips» = US «fries»; US «chips» = UK «crisps». Double the p: «chipped, chipping». Countable: «a chip, chips».

### In the corpora

- [Gulls are bold and clever, and they learn that people carry food, so some snatch chips and sandwiches at the seaside.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/223-gulls-chip-thieves-rain-dances-and-salty-water/5/)
- [At a night market in Thailand a child your age buys a paper cone of fried crickets the way you might buy chips.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/290-insects-as-food-in-other-countries/0/)
- ["Cashed in his chips" means died; it is American slang taken from card games.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/2-death-official-and-slang/17/)
- [Soft ground like wood chips, sand or rubber under a climbing frame makes falls less dangerous than concrete.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/4-climbing/15/)
- [Sharp things like forks and pins cut the gums and can chip teeth, so they are never used to pick the teeth.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/74-flossing-and-caring-for-teeth/6/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «chip» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/chip/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.