/ ˈtʃɪzl; NAmE / noun , verb
■ noun
a tool with a sharp flat edge at the end, used for shaping wood, stone or metal
■ verb ( -ll- , US usually -l- )
1.
[often + adv. / prep. ] to cut or shape wood or stone with a chisel :
[ vn ]
A name was chiselled into the stone.
She was chiselling some marble.
[also v ]
2.
[ vn ] chisel sb (out of sth) ( informal , especially NAmE ) to get money or some advantage from sb by cheating them :
They chiseled him out of hundreds of dollars.
► chisel·ler / ˈtʃɪzlə(r); NAmE / noun
••
WORD ORIGIN
late Middle English : from Old Northern French , based on Latin cis- (as in late Latin cisorium ), variant of caes- , stem of caedere to cut. Compare with scissors .