Meaning & use
paint chips
Last updated
Meanings
nounpluralAmerican
Small cards printed with a patch of color, given out by paint shops so people can compare shades before buying.
Grammar: Plural of paint chip: she brought home several paint chips.
Patterns
- paint chips for something
We taped paint chips to the wall to see how they looked in daylight.
She collected a handful of blue paint chips from the hardware store.
The designer arranged the paint chips by color family.
nounplural
Tiny pieces of dried paint that have broken off a surface such as a wall, door or car.
Grammar: Plural of paint chip: paint chips fell from the ceiling.
Patterns
- paint chips from something
Paint chips from the old windowsill littered the floor.
Old paint chips can contain lead and should be cleaned up carefully.
There were paint chips on the driveway after the stone hit the car.
Word forms
| singular | paint chip |
|---|
Common combinations
- pick up paint chips
- Pick up paint chips before you choose a color.
- peeling paint chips
- Peeling paint chips are a danger in older houses.
- sweep up paint chips
- He swept up the paint chips after scraping the wall.
- compare paint chips
- They compared paint chips in different kinds of light.
- free paint chips
- The store gives away free paint chips by the door.
Synonyms and how they differ
- color swatches
- Color swatches is a broader term that can include fabric or tile samples, while paint chips refers to paint cards.
- paint samples
- Paint samples can also mean small tester pots, whereas paint chips are always flat cards.
- flakes
- Flakes is the general word for thin pieces that peel off, and fits the second sense but not the color-card sense.
- shade cards
- Shade cards is a trade term, mostly British, for printed color charts, while paint chips is everyday American speech.
Word family
Commonly confused: paint chips or chipped paint?
paint chips vs chipped paint
Chipped paint describes a damaged surface, while paint chips are the small broken pieces or the color sample cards.
Practice
Before painting the bedroom, Maria took several ___ home to see which color suited the light.
Choose one answer.
Paint chips are small color sample cards used to compare shades at home. Paint cans hold the paint itself and would not be taken home just to compare colors.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “paint chips”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.