chunk

¹ American  

[chuhngk] / tʃʌŋk /

noun

• chunks
  plural

1. a thick mass or lump of anything.

   a chunk of bread;

   a chunk of firewood.

   Synonyms:

   gob, wad, piece, hunk

2. Informal. a thick-set and strong person.

3. a strong and stoutly built horse or other animal.

4. a substantial amount of something.

   Rent is a real chunk out of my pay.

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verb (used with object)

1. to cut, break, or form into chunks.

   Chunk that wedge of cheese and put the pieces on a plate.

2. to remove a chunk or chunks from (often followed byout ).

   Storms have chunked out the road.

verb (used without object)

1. to form, give off, or disintegrate into chunks.

   My tires have started to chunk.

idioms

1. blow chunks, to vomit.

chunk ² American  

[chuhngk] / tʃʌŋk /

verb (used with object)

South Midland and Southern U.S.

1. to toss or throw; chuck.

   chunking pebbles at the barn door.

2. to make or rekindle (a fire) by adding wood, coal, etc., or by stoking (sometimes followed byup ).

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chunk British  

/ tʃʌŋk /

noun

1. a thick solid piece, as of meat, wood, etc

2. a considerable amount

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• chunks
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of chunk¹

First recorded in 1685–95; nasalized variant of chuck ²

Origin of chunk²

An Americanism dating back to 1825–35; perhaps nasalized variant of chuck ¹

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

chunk chunks

The services industry, which makes up the largest chunk of the UK's economy, was flat during the month, while the construction sector contracted.

From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026

The northwestern state of Amazonas, home to a huge chunk of the world's largest rainforest, has recorded almost double the wildfires so far in October as in the whole of October last year.

From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2026

Furthermore, a good chunk of funds now mechanically end up allocated directly through target-dated funds that skew toward stocks.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 9, 2026

San Francisco is playing at a high level with George Kittle and Brock Purdy generating chunk plays.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

A chunk of the ceiling comes down on Tano, but he reduces the rubble to harmless debris with one swing of the akrafena.

From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer

It makes sense to give a chunk of money to your kids, put several other chunks aside for investments, retire in place and enjoy that passive income.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 7, 2026

“I do want to figure out a way to preserve legible chunks of it in some form or other,” said Koelsch, who hopes to commission a new curtain for the 2027-28 season.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026

The remainder will go in smaller chunks toward startups the firm is building relationships with.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026

Scientists found that some of the chunks of rock that slid from the volcano when it collapsed were about 70-90m high.

From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026

Soon the chunks would grow and pile up and form one solid mass that would cover the bay for months, making it impassable for ships and shutting down the Port of Churchill for the season.

From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz

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Related Words

• block
• dollop
• hunk
• lump
• piece
• portion
• wad

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