Chippers

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Devices or tools designed for cutting or shredding materials into smaller pieces
2. Individuals who engage in the act of cutting or processing items, especially wood or food
3. A term used informally to refer to people who use such instruments for various tasks including landscaping or cooking

Etymology: "Chippers" is the plural of "chipper," which in its own right has two unrelated histories that happen to share a spelling. The first is the dialect adjective "chipper," meaning lively or cheerful, which comes from the English dialect word "kipper" ("nimble, frisky"). That word's origin is obscure, though it may be related to Old Norse "kjapt" ("briskly") and Dutch "kippen" ("to seize"). The sense of cheerfulness is far from the chopping sense in your meaning. The chopping sense is simpler. It comes from "chip," meaning to cut or break small pieces off something, with the agent suffix "-er" added to name the one who does it. "Chipper" in this sense is therefore a plain English formation, and "chippers" is simply the plural of that agent noun, referring to a group of people who chop.

Synonyms: cutters, shredders