when the chips are down
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
In very serious situation.
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
Bear in mind that when the chips are down, we tend to revert to what we feel comfortable with and what we think has worked effectively in the past.
As you know, when the chips are down Leslie Bence comes out fighting.
British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Figurative class: Metaphor (PIE-English corpus, CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31).
Common questions
What does “when the chips are down” mean?
In very serious situation.
Is “when the chips are down” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.