Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (orig. US) a large amount, a good deal of, esp. money.

1832		J. Hall Legends of the West 37: A pretty chunk of a fight, I see.
1853		‘Philip Paxton’ A Stray Yankee in Texas 96: I say, stranger, that’s a powerful smart lookin’ chunk ove poney you’ve got atwixt yer legs thar.
1864		‘Edmund Kirke’ Down in Tennessee 19: Dy’ge know whot Government ’ll pay fur a right smart chunk uv mar?
1896		F. Hutcheson Barkeep Stories 93: ‘You’d t’ink by de way he pulls fer de guy to win dat he was down on him fer a chunk that’d make Riley Grannan look like a piker’.
1889–90		Barrère & Leland Dict. of Sl., Jargon and Cant.
1904		R.C. Lehmann Conversational Hints 147: I don’t mind if I do have a chunk of cake.
1908		H. Green Maison De Shine 137: Seems like she dresses quiet, but I bet them rags cost a chunk.
1914		C. Holme Lonely Plough (1931) 110: You could whiz about all over the place, and see a chunk of everything that was going.
1927		R. Lardner ‘Hurry Kane’ in Coll. Short Stories (1941) 95: You may pitch us into the world’s series and grab a chunk of dough.
1940		D. Maurer Big Con 123: He pulled it [i.e. a moustache] all out [...] when he blew his chunk.
1953		‘Curt Cannon’ ‘The Death of Me’ in I Like ’Em Tough (1958) 97: Close to three bills [...] That’s a nice chunk of lettuce.
1969		A. Buckeridge Trust Jennings (1989) 173: I was hoping you’d agree to put a chunk in the mag.
1978		P. Theroux Picture Palace 131: He handed over a chunk of prints.
1985		S. Berkoff West in Decadence and Other Plays (1985) 137: Inherit some cosy chunk of loot from papa.
1999		K. Sampson Powder 16: There was no way he was working in a bank for the rest of his life, even if he did own a chunk of it.

2. (Aus.) a piece of bread.

1918

C.J. Dennis ‘Before the War’ in Digger Smith 12: I likes to take me tucker plain an’ free: / Tea an’ a chunk out on the job for choice.

3. (US, also chunker, chunko) a fat or large person.

1868		Eve. Teleg. (Philadelphia, PA) 17 Aug. 8/2: William T. Dowdall having read brick Pomeroy out of the Democratic party, the latter replies by calling Dowdall an ‘idiotic, swill-headed chunk’.
1907		D. Stewart Shadows of the Night in Illus. Police News 5 Oct. 12/4: ‘ou don’t mean to say all’s safe aboard?’ ‘A course it is, you wooden-headed chunk!’.
1944		H. Brown Walk in Sun 57: You’re fat, Friedman. You’re a chunk, Friedman.
1984		D. Jenkins Life Its Ownself (1985) 58: Tiffany Howell? ‘Chunko.’.
1992		Eble Campus Sl. Apr. 3: chunker – someone who is chubby, very fat.
2012		V. Brown Suspicious Mimes 202: Chunko was her nickname for him when he was little. Until he reached five, he'd been built like a fireplug, stout and solid.
2015		L. McInerney Glorious Heresies 40: The universe didn’t care whether he was a gangly ginger or a dusty-haired chunk.

4. (US prison) a long sentence.

1950

Goldin et al. DAUL 44/2: Chunk. [...] 2. (P) A long prison term. ‘Jake Stutter goes up for his chunk today. He figures to get hit with the works (the maximum penalty).’.

5. (Can./US Und.) a handgun.

1999–2004

www.UrbanDictionary.com 🌐 Chunk. Gun. I pulled out my chunk.