noun
chunk
chuhngk
noun
1
A thick, irregular piece or lump of something.
"She broke off a chunk of the chocolate bar."
"A chunk of the cliff face crumbled into the sea."
2
A large or significant portion of something, such as time or money.
"Rent takes up a huge chunk of my salary."
"He spent a chunk of his afternoon stuck in traffic."
3
A discrete segment of data, such as part of a file or a stream, transferred or processed as one unit.
"The video loads in small chunks to reduce buffering."
verb
1
To break something into large pieces.
"Chunk the beef before adding it to the stew."
2
To throw something, especially carelessly.
"He chunked the ball across the yard."
How to Use Chunk
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA solid lump of something, or a sizeable share of a bigger whole.
Common pairings
a chunk of
a big chunk
chunk of change
break into chunks
Word Forms
chunked past tense, chunks plural, chunks singular
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She broke off a _____ of the chocolate bar.
Etymology
Likely a variant of "chuck" or a diminutive form built on "chump" (in its "block" sense).