chunk

noun

\ ˈchəŋk

Definition of chunk

(Entry 1 of 2)

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

chunk

verb

chunked; chunking; chunks

Definition of chunk (Entry 2 of 2)

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

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Examples 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: Noun

Spending on public education, the largest single chunk of the budget, would increase by more than $63 million to $1.48 billion. — Washington Post, "Delaware Senate approves operating budget for next year," 20 June 2018 But man, this brisket turned ugly on the holding pit, a mashup of blobs and chunks and short, irregular pieces. — Mike Sutter, San Antonio Express-News, "52 Weeks of BBQ: Cooper’s Old Time Pit Bar-B-Que," 13 July 2018 Near my feet, chunks of rock pulsed shades of glowing orange. — Howie Kahn, Smithsonian, "These Volcanic, Italian Islands Have Been Beloved by Travelers Since Homeric Times," 11 July 2018 Kaling is a newbie to food prepping, but she’s taken on some tricky recipes and ingredients, cooking sweet potatoes and string beans, chopping up mango chunks and poaching salmon. — Blake Bakkila, Health.com, "The Meal Prep Trick That Mindy Kaling Swears By," 9 July 2018 On his way home, Klocke found a cannon chunk a block away. — Cortlynn Stark, kansascity, "50 years after 'mysterious metal' put hole in Kansas school, July 4 pranksters fess up," 2 July 2018 And so this year, Rodriguez has convinced The CW to do something a little different: putting her chunk of the FYC spend toward a college scholarship for an undocumented high school student. — EW.com, "Gina Rodriguez is using Emmy money to send an undocumented student to college," 19 June 2018 In recent years, that chunk of its business has grown at an annual rate of more than 11.5 percent, according to Hermann Breitbach, vice president of engineering for the group. — Kyle Stock, chicagotribune.com, "Replacement for displacement has arrived in small engines making a whole lotta horsepower," 19 June 2018 Young buyers from the Millennial generation are stepping off the sidelines now, representing a significant chunk of the buyer market, said Ross Mackesey, manager of the Lake Roland office for Long and Foster. — Reema Amin, baltimoresun.com, "Housing indicators reflect strong seller's market in Baltimore region," 13 July 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

One particular motif has Camille driving around town, chunking the same Led Zeppelin tape into her car stereo. — James Poniewozik, New York Times, "‘Sharp Objects,’ a Mesmerizing Southern Thriller, Cuts Slow but Deep," 5 July 2018 But the software can chunk them together in various ways to make possible letters. — Sam Kean, The Atlantic, "Artificial Intelligence Is Unlocking the Vatican's Secret Archives," 30 Apr. 2018 The tree chunks Answer Man has seen have mostly been on telecommunications lines, which Jamerson said Pepco’s crews don’t touch. — John Kelly, Washington Post, "Ever noticed chunks of trees on utility pole wires? What’s up with that?," 2 July 2018 Cruise boats take day trips to some of Southcentral Alaska's biggest and brightest glaciers, which send chunks the size of cars into the water with dramatic splashes. — Josh Niva, Anchorage Daily News, "Getting your outdoor adventure fix in Southcentral Alaska," 2 May 2018 Top those with the protein (could be chunked or whole filet). — Chris Morocco, Bon Appetit, "Ponzu Roasted Salmon for Two," 19 Mar. 2018 The skewers of pork belly were another beer cuisine winner, the tender chunks glazed in a sweet dark reduction of the colonial-theme spruce ale. — Craig Laban, Philly.com, "Yards brewery is better, not just bigger, with move and ambitious new taproom," 23 Mar. 2018 But the conditions were deteriorating as snow that had warmed and melted during the day began to freeze into chunks the size of small hailstones. — Elliott D. Woods, Outside Online, "How Mike Foote Set an Obscure 24-Hour Skiing Record," 20 Mar. 2018 For the last eleven years, everyone’s favorite purveyor of scattered, smothered, covered, and chunked hash browns transforms from a beloved greasy spoon to a fine dining establishment brimming with romance. — Melissa Locker, Southern Living, "Waffle House Is Pulling Out The White Tablecloths and Flowers for Valentine’s Day Again," 7 Feb. 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.