Chunk Meaning
/t͡ʃʌŋk/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA part of something that has been separated; a generally squat, thick, irregular piece of something, e.g. wood or stone.
nounA part of something that has been separated; a generally squat, thick, irregular piece of something, e.g. wood or stone., A large or substantial portion of something.
Sentence Examples
I was hit by a huge chunk of meat.
All of the students were looking at a little chunk of metal.
CEFR Practice Quiz
She broke off a large ____ of cheese from the wheel.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
A large ____ of ice fell from the roof and landed on the street city.
Word Origin & History
Variant of chuck; or alternatively a diminutive of chump (“chunk; block”) + *-k (diminutive suffix) (compare hunk from hump, etc.). Also compare Dutch schonk.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Daylight, between mouthfuls, fed chunks of ice into the tin pot, where it thawed into water. […] Daylight cut up generous chunks of bacon and dropped them in the pot of bubbling beans."
— 1910 October, Jack London, Burning Daylight, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, →OCLC:
"Until the main road from Hatfield to Hertford was diverted a few years ago, heavy lorries trundling through the village sometimes knocked chunks off corner buildings, but now the village has regained much of its former tranquillity."
— 1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 224, about Hertingfordbury:
"I'd be willing to bet a chunk of my retirement that the number hasn't decreased."
— 2013 February 26, Maryellen Weimer, Learner-Centered Teaching: Five Key Changes to Practice, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 91:
"[…] she'd be willing to bet a chunk of change this would be one of the nicest rooms Kate-Lynn Bowers had ever slept in: it was the sort of place you'd think twice about running away from."
— 2015 December 6, Eva Hudson, Shoot First, Two Pies Press:
"In fact, some linguists suggest that 45 percent to 60 percent of what you produce in your L1 is functional chunks of language. These chunks of language also give you some sense of fluency."
— 2025, María J. Cabrera-Puche, Learning A New Language For Dummies, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 219:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
She broke off a large ____ of cheese from the wheel.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
A large ____ of ice fell from the roof and landed on the street city.