Clipper chip

noun

A microchip promoted by the US government in the mid-1990s as an encryption device to be used by all telecommunications companies, and having a back door to allow decryption by the government.

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Meanings

nounClipper chip (plural Clipper chips)

plural Clipper chips

  1. historicalcomputingA microchip promoted by the US government in the mid-1990s as an encryption device to be used by all telecommunications companies, and having a back door to allow decryption by the government.

Origin

From Clipper, of unknown origin, + chip.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Clipper chip. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Clipper%20chip

MLA

“Clipper chip.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Clipper%20chip. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Clipper chip,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Clipper%20chip.

Source: Clipper chip on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.