chalk up

verb

chalked up; chalking up; chalks up

transitive verb

1

: ascribe, credit

chalked up his failures to inexperience

2

: attain, achieve

chalk up another victory

Synonyms of chalk up

• attribute
• ascribe

Examples of chalk up in a Sentence

let's chalk up her weird behavior to simple nervousness

chalked up a record in singles tennis that is likely to stand for a long time

Recent Examples on the Web

The victory brought a measure of redemption to the equine athlete as well, chalking up another win against his chief rival Commandant. — Guy Martin, Forbes.com, 1 Aug. 2026

Counterpoint's Research Director Tarun Pathak chalked up the strong performance to sustained demand for the iPhone lineup, especially the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro Max. — Will McCurdy, PC Magazine, 1 Aug. 2026

This can’t be chalked up to a small sample or a rounding error. — Sam Blum, New York Times, 22 July 2026

Jason Altmire, the head of the group, Career Education Colleges and Universities, said some of it can be chalked up to the pandemic. — Nicky Forster, Fortune, 20 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1877, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for chalk up

• backup
• blowup
• breakup
• buildup
• checkup
• cleanup
• holdup
• hookup
• lineup
• lockup
• makeup
• markup