English

Noun

hunk ‎(plural hunks)

1. A large or dense piece of something.

   a hunk of metal

   • 1884: Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Chapter IX

     "Jim, this is nice," I says. "I wouldn't want to be nowhere else but here. Pass me along another hunk of fish and some hot corn-bread."

2. (informal) A sexually attractive boy or man, especially one who is muscular.
3. (computing) A record of differences between almost contiguous portions of two files (or other sources of information). Differences that are widely separated by areas which are identical in both files would not be part of a single hunk. Differences that are separated by small regions which are identical in both files may comprise a single hunk. Patches are made up of hunks.
4. (US, slang) A honyock.
   • 1941, William Woodrow Chamberlain, Leaf Gold (page 76)

     "You ain't callin' me a country hunk, are you?" "****, naw!" Louie backed away and grinned.

Synonyms

• (large or dense piece): chunk, lump, piece
• (sexually attractive boy): beefcake

Derived terms

• hunky

Translations

See also

• bohunk

References

• “hunk” in the Canadian Oxford Dictionary, Second Edition, Oxford University Press, 2004.
• “hunk” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary (2001).