microchip

/ˌˈmaɪkroʊˌtʃɪp/

/ˈmaɪkrəʊtʃɪp/

Other forms: microchips

A microchip is a tiny piece of material that contains electronic circuits allowing it to store a lot of information. Many dogs have microchips so their owners can easily find them if they get lost.

Microchips are made by etching an electronic circuit into a bit of silicon the size of a grain of rice. This tiny device can hold computer memory and processors, or be used to conduct electricity. You almost certainly use things that contain microchips just about every day, including calculators, bank ATMs, certain ID cards, cell phones, and televisions. The word microchip was coined in the 1970s from micro-, "small," and the electronics term chip.

Definitions of microchip

1. noun

   electronic equipment consisting of a small crystal of a silicon semiconductor fabricated to carry out a number of electronic functions in an integrated circuit
   synonyms: chip, micro chip, microprocessor chip, silicon chip

   types:

   biochip

   a microchip that uses tiny strands of DNA to latch onto and quickly recognize thousands of genes at a time; intended for use in a biological environment

   DNA chip, gene chip

   a microchip that holds DNA probes that form half of the DNA double helix and can recognize DNA from samples being tested

   memory chip

   a RAM microchip that can be plugged into a computer to provide additional memory

   microprocessor

   a tiny electronic device in a computer, containing integrated circuits and serving to carry out the computer's logical and arithmetic functions; a semiconductor chip

   read-only memory chip

   a memory chip providing read-only memory

   type of:

   semiconductor, semiconductor device, semiconductor unit

   a conductor made with semiconducting material