chit
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /t͡ʃɪt/
rhymes: -ɪt
Forms: form: chits
Etymology: From chitty, from Hindi चिट्ठी (ciṭṭhī, “letter, note, written message”). Doublet of cure.
Senses: glosses: A small sheet or scrap of paper with a hand-written note as a reminder or personal message.
synonyms: chitty
scrip
tommy
glosses: A voucher or token coin used in payrolls under the truck system.
topics: medicine
pharmacology
sciences
glosses: A small sheet of paper on which is written a prescription to be filled; a scrip.
examples: text: 1.4.3 Also on the board, but turned face down at the beginning of the game, are chits representing treasure sites and sounds and warnings of monsters that may arrive on the map. When characters end a turn in the hex, these chits are revealed. As characters move around the board, more and more of these chits will be revealed, letting the players know where monsters and treasures are to be found.
ref: 2005, Richard Hamblen, Teresa Michelsen, Stephen McKnight, The unofficial, updated Third Edition of the Magic Realm Rules:
topics: games
gaming
glosses: A smaller cardboard counter generally used not to directly represent something but for another, more transient, purpose such as tracking or randomization.
examples: text: 1901, Falk, by Joseph Conrad
He just longed to get away from here and try his luck somewhere else, but for the sake of his sister he hung on and on till he ran himself into debt over his ears—I can tell you. I, myself, could show a handful of his chits for meals and drinks in my drawer.
text: You might come in out of contempt for history—then you'd fall in love with the idea that you could make it, because history had assumed a debt that had never been paid—because, save in apparent trivial, vanishing moments, the debt had been forgotten, and even the chits had been lost.
ref: 1989, Greil Marcus, “The Assault on Notre-Dame”, in Lipstick Traces, Faber & Faber, published 2009:
text: There's been a series of recurring Mass rapid transit (MRT) train breakdowns in Singapore that led to delays for commuters. A travel chit system was implemented where commuters could collect these hardcopy paper chits from the affected stations as documented evidence to be shown to their employers or educational institutions that they were involved in these delays, resulting in the commuters late for work/school.
ref: 2017 August 18, Dennis Heng, “Improvement of MRT train travel chit expediting processes”, in LinkedIn, retrieved 05 Apr 2025:
glosses: A signed voucher or memorandum of a small debt, as for food and drinks at a club.
examples: text: Harry would call in a chit with some desk manager who owed him a favor.
ref: 2003, Linda Fairstein, The Bone Vault, Scribner, page 98:
text: Bill Clinton’s connections, and his endless supply of chits, only begin to capture his singular role in his wife’s presidential candidacy, advisers and friends of the couple say. […] And he is cashing in chits for her that Mr. Gore, post-impeachment, never asked him to do.
ref: 2007 May 13, Patrick Healy, “In New Role, Senator Clinton’s Strategist in Chief”, in New York Times:
glosses: A debt or favor owed in return for a prior loan or favor granted, especially a political favor.
Derived terms: beef chit
blood chit
chit fund
clean chit
goolie chit