1
: a short thick piece or lump (as of wood or coal)
2
: a large noteworthy quantity or part
bet a sizable chunk of money on the race
3
: a strong thickset horse usually smaller than a draft horse
4
psychology
: a unit of information retained in the memory and easily recalled
The process of memorizing may be simply the formation of chunks, or groups of items that go together, until there are few enough chunks so that we can recall all the items.—
Marilyn Sternglass
Marilyn SternglassA chunk represents a recoding of information. For example, the sequence 149217761941 would, for most of us, be a snap to remember. Almost automatically we'd recode the 12 digits into three chunks, 1492, 1776, 1941, all key dates in US history.—Robert Kanigel
Robert Kanigel
chunked; chunking; chunks
: to make a dull plunging or explosive sound
the rhythmic chunking of thrown quoits—John Updike
John Updike1
: to mishit (a golf ball or shot) by striking the ground behind the ball
2
psychology
: to organize (separate units of information) into a single large unit that is retained in the memory and easily recalled
To recall a 10-digit telephone number, for instance, a person could chunk the digits into three groups: the area code (such as 021), then a three-digit chunk (639) and a four-digit chunk (4345).—Jonathan K. Foster
Jonathan K. FosterExamples of chunk in a Sentence
Noun
She cut the fruit into large chunks.
She spends a good chunk of her day on the phone.
He devoted a large chunk of time to the project.
Recent Examples on the Web
Jaime Moore-Carrillo, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 14 May 2025
The stones came from Volyn Gems, the country’s only gem mine, which is still managing to unearth and bring to market sizeable chunks of topaz, quartz and heliodor beryl, despite much of the mainly male workforce being called up to the army.
—Kate Matthams, Forbes.com, 13 May 2025
Symiah Dorsey, Southern Living, 28 Mar. 2025
The Evolution Of Document Ingestion The foundation of modern retrieval systems starts with document chunking: breaking down large documents into manageable pieces.
—Meghana Puvvadi, Forbes, 25 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for chunk
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Noun
The city will rope off the chunk of Wall Price Keller Road linking Wagon Court and Ray White Road between May 25 and August 12 for construction.
—Jaime Moore-Carrillo, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 14 May 2025
The stones came from Volyn Gems, the country’s only gem mine, which is still managing to unearth and bring to market sizeable chunks of topaz, quartz and heliodor beryl, despite much of the mainly male workforce being called up to the army.
—Kate Matthams, Forbes.com, 13 May 2025
Verb
Pineapple Casserole Ingredients Canned pineapple: Some of our readers use chunked, crushed, or a mix of both.
—Symiah Dorsey, Southern Living, 28 Mar. 2025
The Evolution Of Document Ingestion The foundation of modern retrieval systems starts with document chunking: breaking down large documents into manageable pieces.
—Meghana Puvvadi, Forbes, 25 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for chunk
Cite this Entry
“Chunk.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chunk. Accessed 20 May. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share