let the chips fall where they may

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

To accept the consequences of a decision or action without trying to control them

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

chấp nhận hậu quả của quyết định hoặc hành động

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: to allow small cut pieces of wood to fall randomly
Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Examples

She decided to be honest about her mistake and let the chips fall where they may

AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Sources & notes

Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.

Common questions

What does “let the chips fall where they may” mean?

To accept the consequences of a decision or action without trying to control them Literally: to allow small cut pieces of wood to fall randomly

Is “let the chips fall where they may” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.