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. FosterSynonyms
Noun
- abundance
- barrel
- basketful
- boatload
- bucket
- bunch
- bundle
- bushel
- carload
- deal
- dozen
- fistful
- gobs
- good deal
- heap
- hundred
- lashings [chiefly British]
- lashins
- loads
- lot
- mass
- mess
- mountain
- much
- multiplicity
- myriad
- oodles
- pack
- passel
- peck
- pile
- plateful
- plenitude
- plentitude
- plenty
- pot
- potful
- profusion
- quantity
- raft
- reams
- scads
- sheaf
- shipload
- sight
- slew
- spate
- stack
- store
- ton
- truckload
- volume
- wad
- wealth
- yard
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 WebAmanda Hoover, WIRED, 9 Apr. 2024
Unlike the typical process in which open spaces are preserved in one large chunk, the creation of the Ohlone Regional Wilderness trail was a piecemeal effort with no guarantee of success.
—Will McCarthy, The Mercury News, 8 Apr. 2024
Everyone gathers around the pot with wooden spoons and breaks off chunks.
—Lee Marshall, Condé Nast Traveler, 6 Apr. 2024
The funding will come in two chunks – $10 million in the budget year that begins July 1 and $18 million the year after.
—Jonathan Shorman, Kansas City Star, 5 Apr. 2024
Elkhart City Council President Arvis Dawson, who was a councilor at the time, remembers a significant chunk of that turnout being Black voters who usually vote for Democrats.
—Kayla Dwyer, The Indianapolis Star, 3 Apr. 2024
The closures came after heavy rains caused a large chunk of Highway 1 to fall into the ocean over the weekend, The Associated Press reported.
—Alison Fox, Travel + Leisure, 2 Apr. 2024
Following a large weekend storm, large chunks of the road broke off, tumbling down a cliff and into the ocean Saturday afternoon near Rock Creek Bridge.
—Collin Woodard / Jalopnik, Quartz, 2 Apr. 2024
If the ship can't be stabilized, authorities will have to summon specialized equipment – floating cranes, for example – to remove freight containers and the chunks of steel on the bow.
—Christopher Cann, USA TODAY, 28 Mar. 2024
Jack Bantock, CNN, 16 Mar. 2024
Tip the walnuts and bread chunks onto a baking tray and bake for 6-8 minutes until slightly golden.
—The Week Uk, theweek, 14 Jan. 2024
Picked off the bone and chunked into a bowl with the green beans and their rich broth, the meat is a reminder of the soft but important boundary between special and ordinary.
—Eric Kim, New York Times, 18 Oct. 2023
My preferred choice for best surf fishing rod for chunking is in St. Croix’s Avid series.
—Alberto Knie, Field & Stream, 22 June 2023
His hypothesis was that, given the rise of mobile video viewing, a sizable number of smartphone users would pay for a premium mobile TV service with content chunked into sub-10-minute episodes.
—Todd Spangler, Variety, 23 May 2023
And anyone who’s ever watched Fat Bear Week will certainly recognize celebears like super-mom Holly, who has regularly chunked up despite having cubs to feed too.
—Erin Berger, Outside Online, 2 Oct. 2019
Love you more than chunking express, or Denis Johnson’s already dead, or the stooges’ raw power.
—Alyssa Bailey, ELLE, 11 Apr. 2023
Love you more than chunking express, or Denis Johnson's already dead, or the stooges' raw power.
—Skyler Caruso, Peoplemag, 10 Apr. 2023
Noun
Plus, there’s nuance to how students use gen AI; some may ask chatbots to write their papers for them in large chunks or in full, while others may use the tools as an aid or a brainstorm partner.
—Amanda Hoover, WIRED, 9 Apr. 2024
Unlike the typical process in which open spaces are preserved in one large chunk, the creation of the Ohlone Regional Wilderness trail was a piecemeal effort with no guarantee of success.
—Will McCarthy, The Mercury News, 8 Apr. 2024
Everyone gathers around the pot with wooden spoons and breaks off chunks.
—Lee Marshall, Condé Nast Traveler, 6 Apr. 2024
The funding will come in two chunks – $10 million in the budget year that begins July 1 and $18 million the year after.
—Jonathan Shorman, Kansas City Star, 5 Apr. 2024
Elkhart City Council President Arvis Dawson, who was a councilor at the time, remembers a significant chunk of that turnout being Black voters who usually vote for Democrats.
—Kayla Dwyer, The Indianapolis Star, 3 Apr. 2024
The closures came after heavy rains caused a large chunk of Highway 1 to fall into the ocean over the weekend, The Associated Press reported.
—Alison Fox, Travel + Leisure, 2 Apr. 2024
Following a large weekend storm, large chunks of the road broke off, tumbling down a cliff and into the ocean Saturday afternoon near Rock Creek Bridge.
—Collin Woodard / Jalopnik, Quartz, 2 Apr. 2024
If the ship can't be stabilized, authorities will have to summon specialized equipment – floating cranes, for example – to remove freight containers and the chunks of steel on the bow.
—Christopher Cann, USA TODAY, 28 Mar. 2024
Verb
The American duo waged a pulsating third round battle at the PGA Tour’s flagship tournament on Saturday, and had looked on course to head into the final round level at the top before reigning US Open champion Clark chunked his first swing at the penultimate 123-yard par-three hole.
—Jack Bantock, CNN, 16 Mar. 2024
Tip the walnuts and bread chunks onto a baking tray and bake for 6-8 minutes until slightly golden.
—The Week Uk, theweek, 14 Jan. 2024
Picked off the bone and chunked into a bowl with the green beans and their rich broth, the meat is a reminder of the soft but important boundary between special and ordinary.
—Eric Kim, New York Times, 18 Oct. 2023
My preferred choice for best surf fishing rod for chunking is in St. Croix’s Avid series.
—Alberto Knie, Field & Stream, 22 June 2023
His hypothesis was that, given the rise of mobile video viewing, a sizable number of smartphone users would pay for a premium mobile TV service with content chunked into sub-10-minute episodes.
—Todd Spangler, Variety, 23 May 2023
And anyone who’s ever watched Fat Bear Week will certainly recognize celebears like super-mom Holly, who has regularly chunked up despite having cubs to feed too.
—Erin Berger, Outside Online, 2 Oct. 2019
Love you more than chunking express, or Denis Johnson’s already dead, or the stooges’ raw power.
—Alyssa Bailey, ELLE, 11 Apr. 2023
Love you more than chunking express, or Denis Johnson's already dead, or the stooges' raw power.
—Skyler Caruso, Peoplemag, 10 Apr. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'chunk.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near chunk
Cite this Entry
“Chunk.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chunk. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.
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