chuck

noun, verb — 29 senses

chuck

nounalso spelled Chuck

/t͡ʃʌk/ · IE /t͡ʃʊk/

Etymology Variant of chock.

1

Cooking, Food, Lifestyle Meat from the shoulder of a cow or other animal.

  • Arm chucks represent approximately 54% of the beef forequarters.1975, Thomas Fabbricante, William J. Sultan, Practical Meat Cutting and Merchandising: Beef, page 141:
  • Often, pieces of the chuck are sold boneless as flat chunks of meat or rolled and tied.2001, Bruce Aidells, Denis Kelly, The Complete Meat Cookbook: A Juicy and Authoritative Guide, page 190:
1 more example
  • The chucks are that portion of foresaddle remaining after excluding the hotel rack and plate portions of the breast as described in Item No. 306. The veal foreshanks (Item No. 312) and brisket may either be attached or separated and packaged with the chucks.2006, North American Meat Processors Association, The Meat Buyers Guide: Beef, Lamb, Veal, Pork, and Poultry, page 113:
2

US, Dated, Slang Food.

  • “Hambone, how's for chuck?” Hambone removed pipe from mouth, slowly. “Wal, I reckon I still got a few whistleberries left. Some sonofabitch stew mabbe. A few shot biscuits.”1951, Frederick Feikema Manfred, Riders of Judgment, Second, published 2014, →ISBN:
3

Engineering, Mechanical, Mechanical engineering, Natural sciences, Physical sciences A mechanical device that holds an object firmly in place, for example holding a drill bit in a high-speed rotating drill or grinder.

  • 1824, Royal Society of Arts (Great Britain), Transactions, Volume 42, page 88, I have had a chuck of this kind made in brass with the cones of iron, but it is cumbrous and expensive, and does not answer so well, owing to the surface of the iron offering less resistance to the work turning within it. This, perhaps, might be remedied by roughing; but I think the chuck is much better in wood, as it can be made by any common turner at a trifling expense, and possesses more strength than can possibly be required.
  • Iron and steel in contact with magnets retain some of the magnetism, which is sometimes more or less of a nuisance in getting small work off the chucks.1912, Fred Herbert Colvin, Frank Arthur Stanley, American Machinist Grinding Book, page 322:
2 more examples
  • 2003, Julie K. Petersen, “chuck”, entry in Fiber Optics Illustrated Dictionary, page 181, A fiber optic splicing device may be equipped with V-grooves or chucks to hold the two pieces of fiber optic filament to be spliced. If it has chucks, they are typically either clamping chucks or vacuum chucks.
  • The first step in preparing a test specimen with the FlexPrepᵀᴹ is to secure the gyratory specimen in the chuck of the machine.2008, Ramon Francis Bonaquist, NHCRP Report 614: Refining the Simple Performance Tester for Use in Routine Practice, page 30:
Derived terms
chuckable, chuckhole, chuck it, chuck it in, chuck it up, chuck key, chuck over, chuck rib, chuck steak, chuck wagon, fork chuck, universal chuck

chuck

verb

Etymology Variant of chock.

1

To place in a chuck, or hold by means of a chuck, as in turning.

2

To bore or turn (a hole) in a revolving piece held in a chuck.

chuck

verb

Etymology From Middle English chukken, from the noun (see above).

1

To make a clucking sound.

2

To call, as a hen her chickens.

  • Then crowing clapped his wing, th'appointed call To chuck his wives together in the hall.1700, [John] Dryden, “The Cock and the Fox: Or, The Tale of the Nun’s Priest, from Chaucer”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
3

Obsolete To chuckle; to laugh.

  • Who would not chuck to see such pleasing sport. To see such troupes of gallants still resort unto Cornutos shop.1598, John Marston, “Satyre IV”, in The Metamorphosis of Pigmalions Image, and Certaine Satyres (poem):

Chuck

noun
1

Informal, Plural normally a Chuck Taylor All-Stars shoe.

  • Got Chucks on with Saint Laurent / Gotta kiss myself, I'm so pretty2014, “Uptown Funk”, performed by Mark Ronson:

chuck

noun

Etymology From Middle English chuk, of onomatopoeic origin, imitative of a hen's cluck.

1

Dialectal, Obsolete A chicken, a hen.

2

A clucking sound.

  • The call always starts with a whine, to which the males add from 0 to 6 chucks. In choice tests, females approach calls that contain chucks in preference to calls that contain no chucks.1998, Scott Freeman, Jon C. Herron, Evolutionary Analysis, page 604:
3

Slang A friend or close acquaintance; term of endearment.

  • Are you all right, chuck?
  • Pray, chuck, come hither.c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii]:

chuck

verb

Etymology From earlier chock, likely imitative, but perhaps also from Middle English chokken (“to thrust, pierce, cram”), from Picard Old French chuquier (“to collide, strike”, intransitive verb), from Middle Dutch schocken (“to bump, shake”). Doublet of shock and shuck.

9 senses
  1. 1To touch or tap gently.
  2. 2To throw, especially in a careless or inaccurate manner.
  3. 3To throw; to bowl with an incorrect action.
  4. 4To discard, to throw away.
  5. 5To jilt; to dump.
  6. 6To give up; to stop doing; to quit.
  7. 7To vomit.
  8. 8To leave; to depart; to bounce.
  9. 9On rhythm guitar or mandolin etc.: to mute a chord by…
1

To touch or tap gently.

  • [Y]ou look now as you did before we were married—when you used to walk with me under the Elms, and tell me stories of what a Gallant you were in your youth—and chuck me under the chin you would—and ask me if I thought I could love an old Fellow who would deny me nothing—didn't you?1777, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for Scandal, III.ii:
2

Informal To throw, especially in a careless or inaccurate manner.

  • Chuck that magazine to me, would you?
3

Ball games, Cricket, Games, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports To throw; to bowl with an incorrect action.

4

Informal To discard, to throw away.

  • This food's gone off - you'd better chuck it.
  • When Dangerfield put the little roll in his hand, Irons looked suspicious and frightened, and balanced it in his palm, as if he had thoughts of chucking it from him, as though it were literally a satanic douceur. But it is hard to part with money, and Irons, though he still looked cowed and unhappy, put the money into his breeches' pocket, and he made a queer bow […]1863, Sheridan Le Fanu, The House by the Churchyard:
5

Informal To jilt; to dump.

  • She's chucked me for another man!
6

Dated, Informal To give up; to stop doing; to quit.

  • "When he got religion old Joe stuck every penny away in the Savings Bank, and when he chucked religion he'd draw out the lot and go on a bender that landed him in the horrors, like as not."1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 101:
7

Slang To vomit.

8

South Africa, Slang To leave; to depart; to bounce.

  • Let's chuck.
9

Entertainment, Lifestyle, Music On rhythm guitar or mandolin etc.: to mute a chord by lifting the fretting fingers immediately after strumming, producing a percussive effect.

Derived terms
chuckable, chuck a charley, chuck a dummy, chuck-a-luck, chuck and toss, chuck a sickie, chuck a spaz, chuck a uey, chuck away, chuck a wobbly, chuck down, chucker, chuck-farthing, chuck-in, chuck in, chuck it down, chuck off, chuck one's toys out of the cot, chuck one's toys out of the pram, chuck out, chuck the deuces, chuck up, fuck and chuck, upchuck

chuck

noun

Etymology From earlier chock, likely imitative, but perhaps also from Middle English chokken (“to thrust, pierce, cram”), from Picard Old French chuquier (“to collide, strike”, intransitive verb), from Middle Dutch schocken (“to bump, shake”). Doublet of shock and shuck.

1

A gentle touch or tap.

  • She gave him an affectionate chuck under the chin.
2

Informal A casual throw.

3

Ball games, Cricket, Games, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports Informal A throw, an incorrect bowling action.

4

Slang An act or instance of vomiting.

5

Entertainment, Lifestyle, Music On rhythm guitar or mandolin etc., the muting of a chord by lifting the fretting fingers immediately after strumming, producing a percussive effect.

chuck

noun

Etymology From chuck (“to toss”).

1

Scotland A small pebble.

2

Scotland, In plural, Obsolete, Slang Money.

Synonyms
chuckie, chucky, chuckstone, chuckiestone
Derived terms
chuckie-stone
Related terms
chucks

chuck

noun

Etymology Clipping of nunchuck, variant of nunchaku.

1

A pair of nunchaku, especially when using two.

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — authors: page histories for chuck and Chuck.

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