chunk1

 
Pronunciation: /tʃʌŋk/

noun

  • a thick, solid piece of something: huge chunks of masonry littered the street
  • [in singular] a significant amount of something: she invested a chunk of her inheritance in the stock market
  • Computing a section of information or data.

verb

[with object]
  • 1North American divide (something) into chunks: chunk four pounds of pears
  • informal throw (something): chunk a piece of wood on the fire, will you?
  • 2(in psychology or linguistic analysis) group together (connected items or words) so that they can be stored or processed as single concepts: pupils are able to chunk phrases or propositions into units (as noun chunking) the chunking of information
  • Computing divide (data) into separate sections: to prepare hypertext, information is chunked into small, manageable units

Origin:

late 17th century: apparently an alteration of chuck3