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tortilla chip

tortilla chip

7 1.2
A thin, crisp snack made from corn and often eaten with dips
  • noun
  • /tɔrˈtiːjə tʃɪp/
: totopos
  • - Too many tortilla chips.

I like guacamole because it's yummy and you can eat it with crackers or tortilla chips.

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Examples

  • Let's round things out with these cheesy Nacho flavored tortilla chips, shall we?

  • Five minutes later, Lois reappeared with a small cooler and a bag of tortilla chips.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • And some of those tortilla chips.

  • But who stops at ten tortilla chips?

    Blog text (8)
  • 6) Lay out a layer of tortilla chips on a baking sheet.

    Blog text (34)
  • I glanced at the answering machine as I dumped the tortilla chips into a bowl.

    Blog text (26)
  • Or instead of tortilla chips, I'll use carrots for the guac.

    Blog text (30)
  • Each meal starts with house-made tortilla chips and three kinds of salsa.

    Blog text (2)
  • After the washer's hooked up in the pantry, Julio opens a plastic tub of salsa, along with a bag of tortilla chips, and sets them on his rickety kitchen table.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • I enjoyed dipping the crispy tortilla chips into the spicy salsa at the party.

Synonyms

corn chip
vstortilla chip
  • US
7 1.0

A thin crunchy snack made from corn and fried, often salted or flavored

is made from thin baked or fried flatbread and served with dips
nacho
vstortilla chip
4 2.6

A crisp tortilla chip topped with melted cheese and often meat or jalapeños

is usually eaten plain or dipped rather than served with full toppings
nachos
vstortilla chip
1 1.0

Thin crispy tortilla chips eaten plain as a snack

is usually eaten with dips or served alongside sauces

How Crisp

to toast
20 1.0
tortilla chip
7 1.2
baked
115 1.0

Surface Forms

tortilla chip singular

Morphology

tortilla + chip

The meaning 'a thin crisp piece made from a tortilla' is directly and compositionally derivable from combining 'tortilla' (flatbread) with 'chip' (a small crisp piece/snack). Although 'chip' is often associated with potato, English regularly extends it to other bases (e.g. corn/tortilla), and the construction is transparent and readily interpretable by learners who know both words.

Etymology

Tortilla chip comes from a simple kitchen idea: people cut a soft tortilla into small pieces and fry or bake them until they are crisp 'chips'. Because these crunchy pieces are made for dipping, the name now means a thin, crisp piece eaten as a 'snack' with dips.