CHISEL (chiselled, chiselling)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected forms: chiselled    , chiselling   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does chisel mean? 

• CHISEL (noun)
  The noun CHISEL has 1 sense:

1. an edge tool with a flat steel blade with a cutting edge

  Familiarity information: CHISEL used as a noun is very rare.

• CHISEL (verb)
  The verb CHISEL has 3 senses:

1. engage in deceitful behavior; practice trickery or fraud

2. deprive somebody of something by deceit

3. carve with a chisel

  Familiarity information: CHISEL used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CHISEL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An edge tool with a flat steel blade with a cutting edge

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("chisel" is a kind of...):

edge tool (any cutting tool with a sharp cutting edge (as a chisel or knife or plane or gouge))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "chisel"):

cold chisel; set chisel (narrow chisel made of steel; used to cut stone or bricks)

drove; drove chisel (a stonemason's chisel with a broad edge for dressing stone)

firmer chisel (a chisel with a thin blade for woodworking)

ripping chisel (a long chisel with a slightly bent cutting end; used for heavy prying or cleaning mortises)

wood chisel (a chisel for working wood; it is either struck with a mallet or pushed by hand)

burin (a chisel of tempered steel with a sharp point; used for engraving)

Derivation:

chisel (carve with a chisel)

• CHISEL (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they chisel    ... he / she / it chisels   
Past simple: chiseled    / chiselled   
Past participle: chiseled    / chiselled   
-ing form: chiseling    / chiselling   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Engage in deceitful behavior; practice trickery or fraud

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

cheat; chisel

Context example:

Who's chiseling on the side?

Hypernyms (to "chisel" is one way to...):

cozen; deceive; delude; lead on (be false to; be dishonest with)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "chisel"):

job (profit privately from public office and official business)

shark (play the shark; act with trickery)

rig; set up (arrange the outcome of by means of deceit)

cozen (act with artful deceit)

crib (use a crib, as in an exam)

cook; fake; falsify; fudge; manipulate; misrepresent; wangle (tamper, with the purpose of deception)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

chiseler; chiseller (a person who swindles you by means of deception or fraud)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Deprive somebody of something by deceit

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

cheat; chisel; rip off

Context example:

They chiseled me out of my money

Hypernyms (to "chisel" is one way to...):

victimise; victimize (make a victim of)

"Chisel" entails doing...:

cozen; deceive; delude; lead on (be false to; be dishonest with)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "chisel"):

bilk (cheat somebody out of what is due, especially money)

beguile; hoodwink; juggle (influence by slyness)

welch; welsh (cheat by avoiding payment of a gambling debt)

whipsaw (victimize, especially in gambling or negotiations)

beat; bunk (avoid paying)

gip; gyp ((sometimes offensive) to cheat or swindle)

bunco; con; defraud; diddle; goldbrick; hornswoggle; mulct; nobble; rook; scam; short-change; swindle; victimize (deprive of by deceit)

fleece; gazump; hook; overcharge; pluck; plume; rob; soak; surcharge (rip off; ask an unreasonable price)

cozen (cheat or trick)

gazump (raise the price of something after agreeing on a lower price)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s somebody of something

Derivation:

chiseler; chiseller (a person who swindles you by means of deception or fraud)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Carve with a chisel

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

chisel the marble

Hypernyms (to "chisel" is one way to...):

carve; chip at (engrave or cut by chipping away at a surface)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

chisel (an edge tool with a flat steel blade with a cutting edge)

 Context examples 

The Miniature Pinscher is a small, compact, muscular dog with square proportions and well-chiseled lines.

(Miniature Pinscher, NCI Thesaurus)

It has a feathered coat and a long, chiseled and massive head.

(Gordon Setter, NCI Thesaurus)

The head is wedge-shaped and chiseled with large, erect ears and a powerful jaw.

(Pharaoh Hound, NCI Thesaurus)

Please come at once and join me there. Bring with you a jemmy, a dark lantern, a chisel, and a revolver.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He sat with his two hands clasped round his knee, his head slightly bent, and an expression of impatience and of trouble upon his clear, well-chiselled features.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It has a sturdy, compact body and a chiseled head.

(Cocker Spaniel, NCI Thesaurus)

It was evident that a chisel or strong knife had been thrust in, and the lock forced back with it.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I sawed and chopped and chiselled the weathered wood till it had the appearance of having been gnawed by some gigantic mouse.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

“Have you the chisel and the bags? Great Scott! Jump, Archie, jump, and I’ll swing for it!”

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

As Challenger climbed to safety one dart of that savage curving beak shore off the heel of his boot as if it had been cut with a chisel.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)