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chunk1

[chuhngk]
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noun
  1. a thick mass or lump of anything: a chunk of bread; a chunk of firewood.
  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 by out): Storms have chunked out the road.
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verb (used without object)
  1. to form, give off, or disintegrate into chunks: My tires have started to chunk.
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Origin of chunk1

First recorded in 1685–95; nasalized variant of chuck2

Synonyms

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1. hunk, piece, wad, gob.

chunk2

[chuhngk]
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 by up).
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Origin of chunk2

1825–35, Americanism; perhaps nasalized variant of chuck1
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for chunking

Historical Examples

  • The chunking of the screw affected me also, but I seemed to relate it to a former and pleasing experience.

    Wounds in the rain

    Stephen Crane

British Dictionary definitions for chunking

chunking

noun
  1. psychol the grouping together of a number of items by the mind, after which they can be remembered as a single item, such as a word or a musical phrase
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chunk

noun
  1. a thick solid piece, as of meat, wood, etc
  2. a considerable amount
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Word Origin

C17: variant of chuck ²
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for chunking

chunk

n.

"thick block" of something, 1690s, probably a nasalized variant of chuck (n.1) "cut of meat;" meaning "large amount" is 1883, American English.

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chunk

v.

"to throw," 1835, American English, from chunk (n.) or by similar mutation from chuck (v.1). Related: Chunked; chunking.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper