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.
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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Regional slang from around the English-speaking world — British, Australian, Irish, Caribbean, Nigerian, Filipino, AAVE, and the hyphenated-English dialects that make the internet sound local.
See all Regional & Other slang on Slangora.