chalk up

British  

verb

1. to score or register (something)

   we chalked up 100 in the game

2. to credit (money) to an account etc (esp in the phrase chalk it up )

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chalk up Idioms  

1. Score or earn, as in She chalked up enough points to be seeded first in the tournament . This term alludes to recording accounts (and later, scores) in chalk on a slate. [c. 1700]

2. Credit or ascribe, as They chalked their success up to experience . [First half of 1900s]

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Example Sentences

But shares are off about 5% in Tuesday morning action, which some analysts chalk up to Palantir’s sky-high valuation.

From MarketWatch • May 5, 2026

If he weren’t a trauma doctor, you might chalk up the missing headgear to romantic imagery and an homage to “Then Came Bronson.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 6, 2026

LeBron James strolled to the scorer’s table Tuesday night and went through his pregame routine of throwing chalk up in the air, an iconic moment in his NBA-record 23rd season and on his 41st birthday.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 31, 2025

The Basque goalkeeper got a hand to the ball and should have kept it out, but Lewandowski was able to chalk up his eighth league goal of his injury-hit, stop-start season.

From Barron's • Nov. 22, 2025

He began to chalk up a list of all the student’s names.

From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss