chisel

• IPA^(key): /ˈtʃɪzəl/

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• Rhymes: -ɪzəl

From Middle English chisel, chesel, borrowed from Old Northern French chisel, from Vulgar Latin *cisellum, from *caesellum, from Latin caesus, past participle of caedere (“to cut”).

A wood chisel

chisel (plural chisels)

1. A cutting tool consisting of a slim oblong block of metal with a sharp wedge or bevel formed on one end. It may be provided with a handle at the other end. It is used to remove parts of stone, wood or metal by placing the sharp edge against the material to be cut and pushing or pounding the other end with a hammer, or mallet.

• burin
• gouge
• graver

chisel (third-person singular simple present chisels, present participle chiseling or chiselling, simple past and past participle chiseled or chiselled)

1. (intransitive) To use a chisel.
2. (transitive) To work something with a chisel.

   She chiselled a sculpture out of the block of wood.

3. (intransitive, informal) To cheat, to get something by cheating.

chiselling and chiselled are more common in the UK while chiseling and chiseled are more common in the US.

• chiseler, chiseller
• chisel in on

From Middle English chisel, chesil, from Old English ċeosol, ċeosel, ċysel, ċisel, ċisil (“gravel, sand”), from Proto-Germanic *kisilaz (“small stone, pebble”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱeys- (“gravel”). Cognate with Scots keezel (“gravel”), Dutch kiezel (“gravel”), German Kiesel (“gravel”), Danish kis (“gravel”). See also chessom.

• chesil
• chissel, chessil (dialectal)

chisel (usually uncountable, plural chisels)

1. Gravel.
2. (usually in the plural) Coarse flour; bran; the coarser part of bran or flour.

• chessom

• chisel in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• chisel in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• chisel at OneLook Dictionary Search

• Schlei, chiels, chiles, elchis, lechis, liches, sichel

chisel m (oblique plural chiseaus or chiseax or chisiaus or chisiax or chisels, nominative singular chiseaus or chiseax or chisiaus or chisiax or chisels, nominative plural chisel)

1. Alternative form of cisel