chunder

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. Vomit.
  2. An act of vomiting.
  3. Heavy, sticky snow that makes snowsports difficult.
verb
  1. To throw up, to vomit, particularly from excessive alcohol consumption.
verb
  1. Of a motor vehicle: to rumble loudly, to roar.
  2. To grumble, complain.

Pronunciation

/ˈtʃandə/ EN-AU ck1 chunder.ogg /ˈtʃɐndə/ /ˈtʃʌndə(ɹ)/

Word forms

chunder chunders chundering chundered junder

Etymology

Unknown and debated origin. Possibly a shortening of Chunder Loo, itself a presumed rhyming slang for spew (said to be derived from the cartoon character “Chunder Loo of Akim Foo”, drawn by Norman Lindsay for a series of boot-polish advertisements in the early 1900s), but the rhyming slang usage is not actually recorded. Alternatively, possibly from the nautical phrase "*Watch under!" ("Look out below!"), used to warn people on lower decks that someone above was vomiting over the side of the ship, though this is likewise unsubstantiated and may simply be due to folk etymology. Also possibly from tunder, a dialectal pronunciation of thunder; or borrowed from Scots *junder, junner, chunner (“to bump, knock against", also "to break or spill the contents of”), a frequentative form of jund, chund, jundie (“to jog, jostle, annoy, upset”). First attested in c. 1950.

Synonyms

Derived words

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