chunk /tʃʌŋk/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Date: 1600-1700 ; Origin: ⇨ ↑ chuck 2 ]
1 . a large thick piece of something that does not have an even shape:
ice chunks
chunk of
a chunk of bread
2 . a large part or amount of something:
The rent takes a large chunk out of my monthly salary.
chunk of
A huge chunk of the audience got up and left before the end of the show.
3 . a chunk of change American English informal a large amount of money:
Lurie risked a pretty big chunk of change on the race.
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ piece an amount of something that has been cut or separated from the main part:
Could I have another piece of cake?
|
a piece of broken glass
|
Emma cut the pie into eight pieces.
▪ bit a piece. Bit is more informal than piece and is often used about smaller pieces:
The notes were written on bits of paper.
|
He threw a bit of wood onto the fire.
▪ lump a small piece of something solid or firm that does not have a regular shape:
two lumps of sugar
|
a lump of coal
|
a lump of clay
▪ scrap a small piece of paper, cloth etc that is no longer needed:
I wrote the phone number on a scrap of paper.
|
The dog was eating scraps of food off the floor.
▪ strip a long narrow piece of cloth, paper etc:
a strip of cloth
|
The leather had been cut into strips.
▪ sheet a thin flat piece of something such as paper, glass, or metal:
a blank sheet of paper
|
a sheet of aluminium
▪ slice a thin flat piece of bread, cake, meat etc cut from a larger piece:
a slice of pizza
|
Cut the tomatoes into thin slices.
▪ chunk a piece of something solid that does not have a regular shape – used especially about food, rock, or metal:
The fruit was cut into large chunks.
|
a chunk of bread
▪ hunk a large piece with rough edges, which has been cut or has broken off a bigger piece of food, rock etc:
a big hunk of cheese
|
hunks of concrete
▪ block a piece of something solid, which has straight sides:
concrete blocks
|
a block of cheese
|
a block of ice
▪ slab a thick flat piece of stone, or of cake, meat etc:
The floor had been made from stone slabs.
|
a slab of beef
▪ cube a piece that has six square sides – used especially about food:
a cube of sugar
|
ice cubes
▪ wedge a piece that has a thick end and a pointed end, and is shaped like a ↑ triangle – used especially about food and metal:
a wedge of cheese
▪ bar a block of soap, chocolate, candy, or metal, which has straight sides:
a chocolate bar
|
a bar of soap
|
gold bars worth more than £26 million
▪ rasher British English a slice of bacon:
I usually have two rashers of bacon for breakfast.