chunk

noun \ ˈchəŋk \

Updated on: 12 May 2018

Definition of chunk

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

A 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

See chunk defined for English-language learners

See chunk defined for kids

Examples of chunk in a Sentence

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 of chunk from the Web

In addition to higher density population, experts note Louisiana's largest metros account for the largest chunk of the state's auto litigation originates.

— jennifer larino, NOLA.com, "State Farm will cut auto insurance rates for Louisiana drivers in July," 8 May 2018
The next big chunk in the pipeline is the townhouse project, along with underground parking and 18,000 square feet of commercial space planned by Shopoff.

— phil diehl, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Carlsbad residents pushing for Ponto Beach park," 6 May 2018
The largest chunk of the students’ yearlong fundraising efforts is generated through the sale of Temple’s Broad Street Run team T-shirts.

— maria ceschan, Philly.com, "How the Broad Street Run is helping my family heal after a suicide," 4 May 2018
The largest chunk in the budget is the $238.5 million that would be borrowed to seed a second batch of housing projects approved for Proposition HHH funding.

— doug smith, latimes.com, "L.A. budgets $430 million to help homeless, most of it long-term debt," 30 Apr. 2018
On April 25th the European Space Agency’s Gaia satellite released one of the biggest chunks of data in the history of astronomy.

— The Economist, "For the first time, astronomers have a reliable map of the heavens," 26 Apr. 2018
From chemical analysis of the chunks of Mars that arrive on Earth as meteorites, researchers have a sense of the martian mantle’s composition.

— paul voosen, Science | AAAS, "By listening for quakes on Mars, NASA lander will probe Red Planet’s interior," 18 Apr. 2018
This thing is huuuuge, complete with photos from the win, the 74-54 score and the chunk of the bracket showing UMBC advanced to the next round.

— michelle r. martinelli, For The Win, "See UMBC's enormous banner celebrating historic upset over Virginia," 13 Apr. 2018
Quick-thinking Mann saved the chunk of ice (as well as several others that ranged from 4.55 inches to 3.61 inches) and called the National Weather Service in Huntsville.

— leigh morgan, AL.com, "It's official: March 19 hailstone is a state record," 12 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'chunk.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of chunk

perhaps alteration of chuck short piece of wood

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1691

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

chunk Synonyms

Phrases

all kinds (of), quite a bit;

chunk

verb

Definition of chunk

intransitive verb

: to make a dull plunging or explosive sound

the rhythmic chunking of thrown quoits
—John Updike

transitive verb

1 : 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