/ tʃʌŋk; NAmE / noun
1.
a thick solid piece that has been cut or broken off sth :
a chunk of cheese / masonry
2.
( informal ) a fairly large amount of sth :
I've already written a fair chunk of the article.
3.
( linguistics ) a phrase or group of words which can be learnt as a unit by sb who is learning a language. Examples of chunks are 'Can I have the bill, please?' and 'Pleased to meet you'.
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IDIOMS
see blow verb
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WORD ORIGIN
late 17th cent.: apparently an alteration of the noun chuck senses 1 and 3.