Beyond its literal meaning of shaping stone or wood with a chisel, chiselling in slang refers to cheating, swindling, or cutting corners to gain an unfair advantage.
Beyond its literal meaning of shaping stone or wood with a chisel, chiselling in slang refers to cheating, swindling, or cutting corners to gain an unfair advantage. To chisel someone is to defraud them through petty trickery or persistent small deceits — not quite the grand con, but the steady, sneaky kind of dishonesty that erodes trust over time. The word has a satisfying grittiness to it, evoking the slow, deliberate nature of the cheat.
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UK and Irish slang — Cockney, Scouse, Geordie, Yorkshire, Glaswegian, Brummie, Welsh, West Country, plus Irish English. Centuries of regional dialects feeding into modern British and Irish street talk.
See all British & Irish slang slang on Slangora.
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Everyone at the market knew he'd been chiselling customers on the weights for years before anyone finally reported him.
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A piece of work produced using a chisel.
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