chunk

¹ American  

[chuhngk] / tʃʌŋk /

noun

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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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

Example Sentences

Not only have you accumulated $3.2 million before turning 45, but Roth accounts make up a good chunk of your retirement funds; I assume the rest is in brokerage accounts.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 20, 2026

He expects the city — typically boisterous with Latin acts then — to lose a big chunk of music tourism from the north and south.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 19, 2026

There’s a chunk of code for a memory system to keep the context of conversations going without overloading the AI with too much information—a problem known to amplify hallucinations and reduce the effectiveness of guardrails.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026

Crypto transactions account for a large chunk of the three companies’ revenue, so their shares tend to move in tandem with Bitcoin.

From Barron's • Apr. 14, 2026

“Who remembers the cold comfort of that open hearth before we built a new school with its patented front-loader chunk stove with isinglass winders?”

From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck

Related Words

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