# chuck

Pronunciation: say "CHUK" /t͡ʃʌk/

## Verb

1. To throw something, especially in a careless way or without much aim. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To throw something, often in a careless way or without good aim.
   - _Chuck that pen over to me when you're done with it._
   - _Someone chucked a rock through the window of the empty store._
2. To throw away or get rid of something that is no longer wanted. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To throw something away because you do not want it anymore.
   - _Those leftovers have been in the fridge for a week, so you might as well chuck them._
   - _She chucked out a whole box of old letters when she moved._
5. To end a romantic relationship with someone, often suddenly. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To stop being someone's boyfriend or girlfriend, often without warning.
   - _Ellie's chucked him for a guy she met at the gym._
   - _Don't chuck him just because he forgot your birthday._
7. To bring food from the stomach back up through the mouth. *(slang)*
   - Simple: To have food come back up from your stomach and out of your mouth.
   - _Three rides on the roller coaster and he was ready to chuck._
   - _Halfway through the bus trip, the kid next to me chucked all over the floor._
8. To touch or tap someone gently, typically under the chin.
   - Simple: To touch or tap someone softly, often under the chin.
   - _He leaned down to chuck the toddler under the chin before heading out the door._
   - _The vet chucked the nervous puppy under the chin to calm it down._
15. In cricket, to deliver the ball with an incorrect action that amounts to throwing it rather than bowling it.
   - Simple: In cricket, to throw the ball instead of bowling it the proper way.
   - _Coaches film young bowlers side-on to make sure they don't chuck._
   - _Several umpires suspected that the fast bowler chucked whenever he sent down his quicker ball._
16. To place a piece of work in a chuck, or hold it with one, as when turning it on a lathe.
   - Simple: To fix something in a chuck so a machine can hold it and spin it.
   - _The machinist chucked the brass rod in the lathe, tightened the jaws, and faced off its end._
   - _Woodturners often chuck a bowl blank by a short tenon cut on its base._
18. On rhythm guitar, mandolin, and similar instruments, to mute a chord by lifting the fretting fingers right after strumming, giving a percussive effect.
   - Simple: On guitar or mandolin, to strum a chord, then lift your fingers at once so it stops sharply.
   - _Funk guitarists often chuck between accented strums to keep the groove tight._
   - _He chucked each offbeat chord so it barely rang, giving the reggae tune its bounce._
20. To make a clucking sound, like a hen.
   - Simple: To make a sound like a hen's cluck.
   - _The hens chucked and muttered as the farmer scattered the grain._
   - _A broody hen will chuck at you if you reach for her eggs._
21. To call others together in the way a hen calls her chickens, with a clucking sound.
   - Simple: To call others to you the way a mother hen calls her chicks.
   - _Hearing the hawk, the hen chucked her brood together beneath the hedge with anxious clucks._
   - _A rooster that finds a beetle will often chuck his hens over to share it._
22. To leave or set off from the place where one is. *(slang, South Africa)*
   - Simple: To leave a place and go somewhere else.
   - _The braai's finished, bru. Let's chuck before the traffic gets bad._
   - _Most of the guys chucked early, but a few of us stayed until midnight._

## Noun

3. Meat that comes from the shoulder of a cow or another animal.
   - Simple: Meat from the shoulder part of a cow or other animal, used for cooking.
   - _Ask the butcher for three pounds of chuck, trimmed and cut into cubes for the chili._
   - _Burgers made with ground chuck stay juicier than ones made from leaner cuts._
4. A mechanical device that holds an object firmly in place, for instance gripping the bit in a drill or grinder that spins at high speed.
   - Simple: A part of a machine that holds something tight, like the part of a drill that holds the bit.
   - _Tighten the chuck firmly, or the bit can slip loose when the drill is under load._
   - _The machinist clamped the metal rod in the lathe's chuck before starting the cut._
6. A throw made in a casual, offhand way, without much effort. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: A quick, easy throw that you do without trying hard.
   - _With a lazy chuck, he sent the empty can into the recycling bin._
   - _Give the beanbag a chuck and see if you can land it on the board._
9. A gentle touch or tap, typically under a person's chin.
   - Simple: A soft touch or tap, often under the chin.
   - _He gave his little sister a teasing chuck under the chin._
   - _A friendly chuck under the chin was the coach's way of saying good job._
10. Abbreviation of woodchuck. *(dialectal, Northern US)* — Abbreviation of woodchuck.
   - Simple: Short form of woodchuck. A woodchuck is a large ground squirrel that digs holes.
   - _A chuck has been raiding the vegetable garden, leaving half-eaten beans behind._
   - _Hunters in the valley spend summer evenings watching the hayfields for a chuck to pop up._
12. An act or bout of vomiting. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A time when someone throws up food from their stomach.
   - _One look at the waves and he was hanging over the rail having a chuck._
   - _A quick chuck in the bathroom, and she was ready to dance again._
13. A friend or close acquaintance, or an affectionate name used when speaking to someone. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A friend, or a kind and loving name you call someone.
   - _Don't worry about the mess, chuck, I'll clean it up._
   - _Watch your step on that ice, chuck._
14. In cricket, a delivery thrown rather than bowled, or the incorrect bowling action that produces it. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: In cricket, a ball that the bowler throws instead of bowling it the right way.
   - _The umpire called the delivery a chuck and signaled a no-ball._
   - _Slow-motion replays suggested that his faster ball was a chuck, with the elbow straightening at release._
17. On rhythm guitar, mandolin, and similar instruments, the muting of a chord by lifting the fretting fingers right after strumming it, which gives a percussive sound.
   - Simple: On guitar or mandolin, a sharp sound made by strumming a chord, then lifting the fingers holding it.
   - _In bluegrass, the mandolin's chuck on the offbeat does much of the work a snare drum would._
   - _The guitarist's crisp chucks on two and four gave the funk groove its snap._
19. A clucking sound, such as a hen makes, or a similar note in an animal's call.
   - Simple: A clucking sound, like the noise a hen makes.
   - _Each male frog finished his whine with a few quick chucks._
   - _The blackbird gave a sharp chuck of alarm and dived into the hedge._
26. A small pebble. *(dialectal, Scotland)*
   - Simple: A little stone, like the ones you find on a beach.
   - _He had a chuck in his shoe and had to stop halfway up the brae._
   - _The bairns spent the afternoon skimming chucks across the loch._

## Verb

11. To give something up or quit doing it. *(dated)*
   - Simple: To stop doing something and give it up.
   - _After two years of law school, he chucked it all to become a carpenter._
   - _He swore he'd chuck gambling, but by Friday he was back at the track._
25. To chuckle, or more generally to laugh. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To laugh, or to give a small, quiet laugh.

## Noun

23. Food; something to eat. *(dated, US)*
   - Simple: Food, or anything you can eat.
   - _After a long day on the range, the hands lined up by the wagon for chuck._
   - _We rode all night with nothing for chuck but a few cold biscuits._
24. A domestic fowl; a chicken or hen. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A chicken or a hen.
   - _A speckled chuck strutted across the farmyard, pecking at spilled grain._
   - _The chucks had stopped laying once the cold weather set in._
27. Money; used in the plural, as chucks. *(obsolete, Scotland)*
   - Simple: Money, always said in the plural as chucks.

## Other meanings

- (verb) To bore or turn a hole in a piece of work while it revolves, held in a chuck.

## Origin

**Meanings 3–4, 16, 23** — A variant of chock.
**Meanings 13, 19, 24** — From Middle English chuk, an imitative word copying the sound of a hen's cluck.
**Meanings 20–21, 25** — From Middle English chukken, which was formed from the related noun.
**Meanings 1–2, 5–9, 11–12, 14–15, 17–18, 22** — From earlier chock, likely imitative, though perhaps also from Middle English chokken ("to thrust, pierce, cram"), from Picard Old French chuquier ("to collide, strike"), from Middle Dutch schocken ("to bump, shake"). It is a doublet of shock and shuck.
**Meaning 10** — From woodchuck.
**Meanings 26–27** — From chuck in the sense "to toss".

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/chuck (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).