chank

Formschanks, chanking, chanked

Pluralchanks

1. 1
   verbUStransitive or intransitive

   To eat noisily, chewing with audible champing or chomping sounds.

   The children chank their cereal so loudly that no one can hear the television.

   She tends to chank when she's nervous at the dinner table.

   Similarchomp, champ, munch

   Note

   An American sound-word, probably an altered champ and kin to chomp, whose blunt -nk ending imitates the noise of chewing. It can take an object (chank their cereal) or stand alone (she chanks when nervous), and it inflects regularly: chanks, chanking, chanked. Champ and chomp carry the same meaning; choosing chank adds a regional, distinctly American flavor to the loudness.

2. 2
   nounIndiacountable

   The large spiral shell of several sea conch species, much used in making bangles, especially that of Turbinella pyrum.

   Artisans polish each chank before slicing it into bangles.

   A single chank can yield several bangles for the bridal market.

   Note

   Indian English took this word from Sanskrit śaṅkha, and it names the shell itself rather than the living animal. Because it is the raw material of the bangle trade, it often appears with verbs of working, such as polishing and slicing. Outside India the same object is usually just called a conch. Two unrelated words share this spelling, among them an ethnic slur, so context decides which one is meant.

3. 3
   nounderogatoryoffensiveeuphemisticcountable

   A derogatory and offensive ethnic slur directed at a person of Chinese descent.

   She reported the coworker who called her a chank during the argument.

   Being called a chank left him shaken for days.

   Note

   A slur that reaches its target through a mispronunciation of chink. It counts as euphemistic because of the disguise, not the effect: altering the sound does nothing to soften the insult, and the word is as offensive as the one it stands in for. It belongs only in reported speech or in discussion of slurs, never in addressing anyone.

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