Chunk

How to spell chunk

5 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce chunk

What does chunk mean?

1. nounA thick, solid piece of something, often broken or cut from a larger mass.
2. verbTo divide or group something into smaller, more manageable sections.

Chunk in a sentence

• noun

  She cut a thick chunk of cheese for the platter.

• verb

  Editors often chunk long reports into clearly labelled sections.

• noun

  A large chunk of the wall had fallen onto the pavement.

• verb

  Teachers chunk complex lessons so students can absorb them in stages.

Where does chunk come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

Chunk first appears in English in the late 1600s and is generally regarded as an alteration of the slightly older word chuck, which meant a lump or thick piece, as in a chuck of bread or meat. The exact source of chuck itself is uncertain, though it may be linked to chock, a wedge or block of wood, suggesting the underlying idea of something solid and blocky. The inserted n gave chunk its heavier, more emphatic sound, fitting a word that describes a substantial, irregular piece broken or cut off from a larger whole. Over time the sense broadened from physical lumps of food or wood to abstract portions, so we now speak of a chunk of time or a chunk of money. The spelling is reliably phonetic, with the ck of the older chuck simply replaced by the ck-style k after the n.

How the word is built

• chunk (a thick lump or solid piece), probably an alteration of chuck