"chip on one's shoulder" meaning in English

See chip on one's shoulder in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Audio: en-au-chip on one's shoulder.ogg Forms: chips on one's shoulder [plural]
Etymology: The saying originated during the 19th century in the United States, where people wanting a physical fight would carry a chip of wood on their shoulder, daring others to knock it off. Head templates: {{en-noun|chips on one's shoulder}} chip on one's shoulder (plural chips on one's shoulder)
  1. A form of challenge, in the same spirit as a medieval knight throwing down his gauntlet.
    Sense id: en-chip_on_one's_shoulder-en-noun-ZvOA7oSj Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with German translations, Terms with Macedonian translations, Terms with Serbo-Croatian translations, Terms with Thai translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 37 18 45 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 36 21 43 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 38 19 44 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 37 19 43 Disambiguation of Terms with German translations: 35 27 38 Disambiguation of Terms with Macedonian translations: 36 26 38 Disambiguation of Terms with Serbo-Croatian translations: 36 26 38 Disambiguation of Terms with Thai translations: 37 26 37
  2. (idiomatic) A habitually combative attitude, usually because of a harboured grievance, sense of inferiority, or having something to prove. Tags: idiomatic Translations (combative attitude): Komplex [masculine] (German), gewisse Abneigung [feminine] (German), комплекс (kompleks) [masculine] (Macedonian), kompleks [masculine] (Serbo-Croatian), มีปมด้อย (mii-bpom-dɔ̂i) (Thai)
    Sense id: en-chip_on_one's_shoulder-en-noun-GOjkJPha Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with German translations, Terms with Macedonian translations, Terms with Serbo-Croatian translations, Terms with Thai translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 37 18 45 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 36 21 43 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 38 19 44 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 37 19 43 Disambiguation of Terms with German translations: 35 27 38 Disambiguation of Terms with Macedonian translations: 36 26 38 Disambiguation of Terms with Serbo-Croatian translations: 36 26 38 Disambiguation of Terms with Thai translations: 37 26 37 Disambiguation of 'combative attitude': 5 88 7
  3. (idiomatic) A tendency to take offence quickly. Tags: idiomatic
    Sense id: en-chip_on_one's_shoulder-en-noun-jRmdDrgY Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with German translations, Terms with Macedonian translations, Terms with Serbo-Croatian translations, Terms with Thai translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 37 18 45 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 36 21 43 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 38 19 44 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 37 19 43 Disambiguation of Terms with German translations: 35 27 38 Disambiguation of Terms with Macedonian translations: 36 26 38 Disambiguation of Terms with Serbo-Croatian translations: 36 26 38 Disambiguation of Terms with Thai translations: 37 26 37
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Derived forms: chippy Related terms: thorn in someone's side, chip off the old block, mote (english: from Matthew 7:3)

Inflected forms

{
  "derived": [
    {
      "_dis1": "100 0 0",
      "word": "chippy"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "The saying originated during the 19th century in the United States, where people wanting a physical fight would carry a chip of wood on their shoulder, daring others to knock it off.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "chips on one's shoulder",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "chips on one's shoulder"
      },
      "expansion": "chip on one's shoulder (plural chips on one's shoulder)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "_dis1": "100 0 0",
      "word": "thorn in someone's side"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "100 0 0",
      "word": "chip off the old block"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "100 0 0",
      "english": "from Matthew 7:3",
      "word": "mote"
    }
  ],
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      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1830, The Onondaga Standard, Syracuse NY, 8 December",
          "text": "‘Oh! if I only could get him to knock a chip off my shoulder, and so get round the law, I would give him one of the soundest thrashings he ever had.’"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1855, The Weekly Oregonian:",
          "text": "Leland, in his last issue, struts out with a chip on his shoulder, and dares Bush to knock it off.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A form of challenge, in the same spirit as a medieval knight throwing down his gauntlet."
      ],
      "id": "en-chip_on_one's_shoulder-en-noun-ZvOA7oSj",
      "links": [
        [
          "challenge",
          "challenge"
        ],
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          "gauntlet",
          "gauntlet"
        ]
      ]
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        {
          "ref": "1906, Harold MacGrath, chapter 4, in Half A Rogue:",
          "text": "The city of Herculaneum […] held its neighbors in hearty contempt, like the youth who has suddenly found his man's strength, and parades round with a chip on his shoulder.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2008 August 28, James Carney, Michael Grunwald, “Understanding John McCain”, in Time:",
          "text": "The young John McCain was a constant breaker of rules, a brawler and a slob, an undersize punk with an oversize chip on his shoulder.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2014 November 17, Roger Cohen, “The horror! The horror! The trauma of ISIS [print version: International New York Times, 18 November 2014, p. 9]”, in The New York Times:",
          "text": "[O]ne minute this \"Jihadi John\" was struggling to get by, and get accepted, in drizzly England, unemployed with a mortgage to pay and a chip on his shoulder, and the next he stands in brilliant Levantine sunlight, where everything is clear and etched, at the vanguard of some Sunni Risorgimento intent on subjecting the world to its murderous brand of Wahhabi Islam.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A habitually combative attitude, usually because of a harboured grievance, sense of inferiority, or having something to prove."
      ],
      "id": "en-chip_on_one's_shoulder-en-noun-GOjkJPha",
      "links": [
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          "combative"
        ]
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      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) A habitually combative attitude, usually because of a harboured grievance, sense of inferiority, or having something to prove."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "5 88 7",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "combative attitude",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "Komplex"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "5 88 7",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "combative attitude",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "gewisse Abneigung"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "5 88 7",
          "code": "mk",
          "lang": "Macedonian",
          "roman": "kompleks",
          "sense": "combative attitude",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
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        },
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          "_dis1": "5 88 7",
          "code": "sh",
          "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
          "sense": "combative attitude",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
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        },
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          "_dis1": "5 88 7",
          "code": "th",
          "lang": "Thai",
          "roman": "mii-bpom-dɔ̂i",
          "sense": "combative attitude",
          "word": "มีปมด้อย"
        }
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          "_dis": "37 26 37",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Thai translations",
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        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A tendency to take offence quickly."
      ],
      "id": "en-chip_on_one's_shoulder-en-noun-jRmdDrgY",
      "links": [
        [
          "offence",
          "offence"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) A tendency to take offence quickly."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
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  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-chip on one's shoulder.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/6/6e/En-au-chip_on_one%27s_shoulder.ogg/En-au-chip_on_one%27s_shoulder.ogg.mp3",
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  "lang_code": "en",
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    },
    {
      "word": "chip off the old block"
    },
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      "word": "mote"
    }
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        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
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          "ref": "1830, The Onondaga Standard, Syracuse NY, 8 December",
          "text": "‘Oh! if I only could get him to knock a chip off my shoulder, and so get round the law, I would give him one of the soundest thrashings he ever had.’"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1855, The Weekly Oregonian:",
          "text": "Leland, in his last issue, struts out with a chip on his shoulder, and dares Bush to knock it off.",
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          "text": "The city of Herculaneum […] held its neighbors in hearty contempt, like the youth who has suddenly found his man's strength, and parades round with a chip on his shoulder.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2008 August 28, James Carney, Michael Grunwald, “Understanding John McCain”, in Time:",
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        },
        {
          "ref": "2014 November 17, Roger Cohen, “The horror! The horror! The trauma of ISIS [print version: International New York Times, 18 November 2014, p. 9]”, in The New York Times:",
          "text": "[O]ne minute this \"Jihadi John\" was struggling to get by, and get accepted, in drizzly England, unemployed with a mortgage to pay and a chip on his shoulder, and the next he stands in brilliant Levantine sunlight, where everything is clear and etched, at the vanguard of some Sunni Risorgimento intent on subjecting the world to its murderous brand of Wahhabi Islam.",
          "type": "quote"
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      ],
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        "(idiomatic) A habitually combative attitude, usually because of a harboured grievance, sense of inferiority, or having something to prove."
      ],
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        "idiomatic"
      ]
    },
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        "A tendency to take offence quickly."
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        "(idiomatic) A tendency to take offence quickly."
      ],
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  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "combative attitude",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Komplex"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "combative attitude",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "gewisse Abneigung"
    },
    {
      "code": "mk",
      "lang": "Macedonian",
      "roman": "kompleks",
      "sense": "combative attitude",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "комплекс"
    },
    {
      "code": "sh",
      "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
      "sense": "combative attitude",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "kompleks"
    },
    {
      "code": "th",
      "lang": "Thai",
      "roman": "mii-bpom-dɔ̂i",
      "sense": "combative attitude",
      "word": "มีปมด้อย"
    }
  ],
  "word": "chip on one's shoulder"
}

Download raw JSONL data for chip on one's shoulder meaning in English (4.4kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-21 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (d8cb2f3 and 4e554ae). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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