chip
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 →
2) A chip is the small mark left where a piece broke off, like a chip in a mug. tree →
3) In the UK, Ireland, Australia and NZ, chips are long pieces of fried potato (called «fries» in the US). tree →
4) In the US and Canada, chips are thin crunchy slices of potato from a packet (called «crisps» in the UK and Ireland). tree →
5) A computer chip is a tiny piece of material with circuits that makes electronic things work. tree →
6) To chip means to break a small piece off, or to kick or hit a ball gently into the air. tree →
7) A chip can be a small counter used in games, or a microchip in a pet. tree →
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 →
- There's a chip in my favourite mug. tree →
- Can I have a packet of chips? tree →
- Chocolate chip cookies are my favourite. tree →
- The phone has a tiny computer chip inside. tree →
- Our dog has a microchip so he can be found if he gets lost. tree →
- She chipped the ball over the goalkeeper. tree →
- Everyone chipped in to buy the teacher a present. tree →
- Throw away chipped glasses, as they can cut you. tree →
- There goes a shaving thinking of nothing in the world but of itself, a mere chip! tree →
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.
- At a night market in Thailand a child your age buys a paper cone of fried crickets the way you might buy chips.
- "Cashed in his chips" means died; it is American slang taken from card games.
- Soft ground like wood chips, sand or rubber under a climbing frame makes falls less dangerous than concrete.
- Sharp things like forks and pins cut the gums and can chip teeth, so they are never used to pick the teeth.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «chip» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.