Synonyms

chip on one\'s shoulder

[chip] Origin

chip

1[chip] noun, verb, chipped, chip·ping.
noun
1.
a small, slender piece, as of wood, separated by chopping, cutting, or breaking.
2.
a very thin slice or small piece of food, candy, etc.: chocolate chips.
3.
a mark or flaw made by the breaking off or gouging out of a small piece: This glass has a chip.
4.
any of the small round disks, usually of plastic or ivory, used as tokens for money in certain gambling games, as roulette or poker; counter.
5.
Also called microchip. Electronics. a tiny slice of semiconducting material, generally in the shape of a square a few millimeters long, cut from a larger wafer of the material, on which a transistor or an entire integrated circuit is formed. Compare microprocessor.
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6.
a small cut or uncut piece of a diamond or crystal.
7.
anything trivial or worthless.
8.
something dried up or without flavor.
9.
a piece of dried dung: buffalo chips.
10.
wood, straw, etc., in thin strips for weaving into hats, baskets, etc.
11.
Golf. chip shot.
12.
Tennis. a softly sliced return shot with heavy backspin.
13.
the strip of material removed by a recording stylus as it cuts the grooves in a record.
14.
chips, Chiefly British. French fries.
COLLAPSE
verb (used with object)
15.
to hew or cut with an ax, chisel, etc.
16.
to cut, break off, or gouge out (bits or fragments): He chipped a few pieces of ice from the large cube.
17.
to disfigure by breaking off a fragment: to chip the edge of a saucer.
18.
to shape or produce by cutting or flaking away pieces: to chip a figure out of wood.
19.
Games. to bet by means of chips, as in poker.
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20.
Tennis. to slice (a ball) on a return shot, causing it to have heavy backspin.
21.
Slang. to take (a narcotic drug) occasionally, especially only in sufficient quantity to achieve a mild euphoria.
22.
Chiefly British Sports. to hit or kick (a ball) a short distance forward.
23.
British Slang. to jeer or criticize severely; deride; taunt.
24.
Australian. to hoe; harrow.
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Chip on one's shoulder is always a great word to know.
So is bezoar. Does it mean:
a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.
a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.
verb (used without object)
25.
to break off in small pieces.
26.
Golf. to make a chip shot.
27.
chip in,
a.
to contribute money or assistance; participate.
b.
Games. to bet a chip or chips, as in poker.
c.
to interrupt a conversation to say something; butt in: We all chipped in with our suggestions for the reunion.
28.
chip off the old block, a person who resembles one parent in appearance or behavior: His son is just a chip off the old block.
29.
chip on one's shoulder, a disposition to quarrel: You will never make friends if you go around with a chip on your shoulder.
30.
in the chips, Slang. wealthy; rich: Don't look down on your old friends now that you're in the chips.
31.
when the chips are down, in a discouraging or disadvantageous situation; in bad or pressing times: When the chips are down he proves to be a loyal friend.

Origin:
1300–50; (noun) Middle English chip (compare Old English cipp plowshare, beam, i.e., piece cut off); (v.) late Middle English chippen (compare Old English -cippian in forcippian to cut off); akin to Middle Low German, Middle Dutch kippen to chip eggs, hatch

chip·pa·ble, adjective
un·chip·pa·ble, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To chip on one's shoulder
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

chip
O.E. forcippian "to pare away by cutting," v. form of cipp "small piece of wood," perhaps from PIE base *keipo- "sharp post" (cf. Du. kip "small strip of wood," L. cippus "post, stake, beam"). Sense of "break off fragments" is 18c. Noun is attested by early 14c.; meaning "counter used in a game of chance"
EXPAND
is first recorded 1840; electronics sense is from 1962. Used for thin slices of foodstuffs (originally fruit) since 1769; specific ref. to potatoes is from 1859 (in "A Tale of Two Cities"); potato chip is attested by 1886. Meaning "piece of dried dung" first attested 1846. To chip in "contribute" (1861) may come from card-playing. Potato chip is 1859. Chip of the old block is used by Milton (1642); earlier form was chip of the same block (1621); more common modern phrase with off in place of of is early 20c. To have a chip on one's shoulder is from at least 1820s, U.S., from the custom of a boy determined to fight putting a chip on his shoulder and defying another to knock it off. Chip in "contribute" is 1861, Amer.Eng.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Science Dictionary
chip   (chĭp)  Pronunciation Key 
See integrated circuit.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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American Heritage
Cultural Dictionary

chip on one's shoulder definition


A belligerent attitude or grievance: “Joe really has a chip on his shoulder; every time I say something to him, he takes it the wrong way.” In the past, a young boy would place a wood chip on his shoulder and dare anyone to knock it off as a way of showing how tough he was.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary

chip definition


  1. n.
    a bargaining chip. : He used his inside info as a chip.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases

chip on one's shoulder

A belligerent attitude or grievance, as in Mary is easily offended; she always has a chip on her shoulder. This term actually was defined in a newspaper article (Long Island Telegraph, May 20, 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." [Early 1800s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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