chock full
adj/ˌtʃɒk ˈfʊl/
Etymology From Middle English chokkeful (“crammed full”) c. 1400, possibly from choke (“cheek”), equivalent to cheek + full. Or it may be from Old French choquier (“collide, crash, hit”), similar to shock. The later form chock-a-block full is due to association with chock, used in carpentry and shipbuilding.
1
Informal Containing the maximum amount possible, flush on all sides, jam-packed, crammed.
- That article is chock-full of errors.
- The pages of the diary are chock full of fascinating reports of medical incidents of all sorts.1741, George E. Nitzsche, The General Magazine and Historical Chronicle, University of Pennsylvania. General Alumni Society, pages 251
2 more examples
- “Chock full o' science,” said the radiant Captain, “as ever he was![…]”1846 October 1 – 1848 April 1, Charles Dickens, Dombey and Son, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1848, →OCLC, page 565:
- The story is chock full, not only of excellent science, but woven through it there is also that very rare element, love and romance.1928 August, E. E. Smith, “The Skylark of Space”, in Hugo Gernsback, editor, Amazing Stories, Preface:
- Derived terms
- chock load
- Related terms
- chock-a-block, chock-a-block full