chip / chip/ • n. 1. a small piece of something removed in the course of chopping, cutting, or breaking something, esp. a hard material such as wood or stone: mulch the shrubs with cedar chips. ∎  a hole or flaw left by the removal of such a piece: a chip on his tooth.2. a thin slice of food made crisp by being fried, baked, or dried and typically eaten as a snack: tortilla chips. ∎  a small chunk of candy added to desserts or sweet snacks, esp. of chocolate. ∎  (chips) chiefly Brit. French fries: an order of fish and chips.3. short for microchip.4. a counter used in certain gambling games to represent money: a poker chip.5. (in golf, soccer, and other sports) a short lofted kick or shot with the ball. ∎  Tennis a softly sliced return intended to land between the net and the opponent’s service line.• v. (chipped, chip·ping) [tr.] 1. cut or break (a small piece) from the edge or surface of a hard material: chipping ice off the upper deck. ∎  [intr.] (of a material or object) break at the edge or on the surface: the paint had chipped off. ∎  cut pieces off (a hard material) to alter its shape or break it up: it required a craftsman to chip the blocks of flint to the required shape | [intr.] she chipped away at the ground. 2. (in golf, soccer, and other sports) kick or strike (a ball or shot) to produce a short lobbed shot or pass: he chipped a superb shot.PHRASES: a chip off the old block inf. someone who resembles his or her parent, esp. in character.a chip on one's shoulder inf. a deeply ingrained grievance, typically about a particular thing.when the chips are down inf. when a very serious and difficult situation arises.PHRASAL VERBS: chip away gradually and relentlessly make something smaller or weaker: rivals may chip away at one's profits by undercutting product prices.chip in (or chip something in) contribute something as one's share of a joint activity, cost, etc.

chip a chip off the old block someone resembling their father or mother, especially in character and behaviour; the term is recorded from the early 17th century.
a chip on one's shoulder a deeply ingrained grievance, typically about a particular thing. The phrase (originally US) is recorded from the 19th century, and may originate in a practice described in the Long Island Telegraph (Hempstead, New York), 20 May 1830, ‘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.’

chip
1. A small section of a single crystal of semiconductor, usually silicon, that forms the substrate upon which is fabricated a single semiconductor device or all the individual devices comprising an integrated circuit.

2. Informal name for integrated circuit.

chip small thin piece of wood, stone, etc. XIV. repr. OE. ċipp, ċyp beam, corr. to OS. kip post, kipa stave, OHG. kipfa (G. dial. kipf(e)) axle, stave, ON. keppr stick, staff. The basic sense seems to be ‘piece hewn or cut’.
So chip vb. †chap XIV; pare the crust from (bread) XV; crack and break open XVI; cut with an axe or adze; cf. OE. *ċippian = (M)LG., (M)Du. kippen hatch out by chipping the shell.