a chip off the old block someone who resembles their parent, especially in character. informal

☞ A chip in this expression means something which forms a portion of, or is derived from, a larger or more important thing, and which retains the characteristic qualities of that superior thing. In 1781 Edmund Burke commented on Pitt the Younger's maiden speech in Parliament by saying he was: 'Not merely a chip of the old “block", but the old block itself'.