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Glite Dictionary
corn chip

corn chip

7 1.0
A thin crunchy snack made from corn and fried, often salted or flavored
  • noun
  • /kɔrn tʃɪp/
  • US
: totopos
  • I threw a bag of blue corn chips on the counter and opened a jar of chunky salsa.
  • a bag of corn chips
  • blue corn chips
  • corn chips with a dip

So I go into our snack box and I just go hmm do I want corn chip or do I want sesame bar which sounds weird but it is so good.

Examples

  • Bill Clinton's favorite is corn chips with a dip made of bottled salsa and Velveeta cheese melted in the microwave.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • We put on our bathing suits, bought tuna sandwiches, corn chips, soda, and wildly overpriced shorts of sparkling apple cider from the twenty-four-hour cafe.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • Yeah, I still think that the the first one is a white corn chip, and this one is a yellow.

  • Myself, I kind of like that corn chip smell.

    Mulan (1998)

  • A plate of blue corn chips and hummus was placed before us.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • She's eating corn chips, but I'm too nervous to join in.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • For dinner, Mama brought out a bag of corn chips and poured canned chili on top.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • Seagulls swooped down and fought for the scattered corn chips, squawking and flapping their wings, until only one of them was left, gorging on Boyle's debris.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • At the party, everyone enjoyed dipping their corn chips into the spicy salsa.

  • She opened a bag of corn chips to share while watching the movie.

Synonyms

tortilla chip
vscorn chip
7 1.2

A thin, crisp snack made from corn and often eaten with dips

is made specifically from fried cornmeal dough and usually salted or flavored
nacho
vscorn chip
4 2.6

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

is a thin fried cornmeal snack usually served salted or flavored
nachos
vscorn chip
1 1.0

Thin crispy tortilla chips eaten plain as a snack

is the individual fried cornmeal snack usually salted or flavored

Surface Forms

corn chip singular
corn chips plural

Morphology

corn + chip

The meaning 'a thin, crisp snack made from corn' is directly and compositionally derived from 'corn' (the ingredient/material) + 'chip' (a thin, crispy snack). This material+product noun-noun compounding is a common and productive pattern in English (and many languages), so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Corn chip comes from its two literal parts: a small chip made from corn dough, like a tiny fried 'tortilla'. People cut flat tortillas into pieces and fry or bake them until they are crisp, so the name now means a thin, crunchy 'snack'.