chip
nounCEFR B2
What does “chip” mean in English?
chip, microchip
chip, microchip (an electronic component; escasez de chips; guerra del chip; also: cambiar el chip = change mindset)
Example sentences
La escasez global de chips afectó a la producción automovilística de Europa durante más de dieciocho meses.
The global chip shortage affected European car production for more than eighteen months.
Las potencias tecnológicas se enfrentan en una guerra del chip que tiene implicaciones geopolíticas de primer orden.
The technological powers face each other in a chip war that has first-order geopolitical implications.
Para gestionar mejor el tiempo libre, necesitamos cambiar el chip y dejar de ver el descanso como una pérdida de productividad.
To manage free time better, we need to change our mindset and stop seeing rest as a loss of productivity.
How to use it
El chip (noun, masculine) is a loanword from English meaning 'chip, microchip, semiconductor'. At B2 it appears in technology, economics, and geopolitics discourse. Core collocations: el chip semiconductores; la escasez de chips; los fabricantes de chips; el chip de inteligencia artificial; la guerra del chip (the chip war — geopolitical competition for semiconductor dominance); cambiar el chip (to change one's mindset — figurative). The figurative phrase cambiar el chip is widely used in informal and workplace Spanish meaning to shift one's mental frame or approach.
Common mistake
El chip (technical/electronic) vs las patatas fritas/los chips (crisps/chips — food). The figurative cambiar el chip (to change one's way of thinking) is highly colloquial but very frequent in Spanish media and conversation. Don't use *el micro for microchip in general discourse — el chip is standard.