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Origin and history of chock

chock(n.)

1670s, "piece of wood, block" (especially one used to prevent movement), possibly from Old North French choque "a block" (Old French çoche "log," 12c.; Modern French souche "stump, stock, block"), from Gaulish *tsukka "a tree trunk, stump."

chock(adv.)

"tightly, close up against," 1799, back formation from chock-full.

also from 1799

Entries linking to chock

chock-full(adj.)

c. 1400, chokkeful "crammed full;" the first element is possibly from choke "cheek" (see cheek (n.)). Or it may be from Old French choquier "collide, crash, hit" (13c., Modern French choquer), which is probably from Germanic (compare Middle Dutch schokken, and see shock (n.1)).

chock-a-block(adj.)

"jammed together," 1840, nautical, said of two blocks of tackle run so closely that they touch; from chock (n.) + block (n.1) in the nautical sense "a pulley together with its framework."

chuck(n.1)

"piece of wood," 1670s; "piece of meat," 1723; probably a variant of chock (n.) "block." "Chock and chuck appear to have been originally variants of the same word, which are now somewhat differentiated" [OED].

Chock and Chuck, Are low terms, very frequently used before full,—as the coach was chock full of passengers. The house was chuck full. [Daniel Powers, "A Grammar on an Entirely New System," West Brookfield, 1845]

Specifically of shoulder meat from early 18c. (the exact cut varies from place to place). Meaning "device for holding work in a lathe or other machine" is from 1703 (also chock). American English chuck wagon (1880) is from a mid-19c. meaning "food, grub," generalized from the meat sense.

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    Trends of chock

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

    More to explore

    wedge
    Old English wecg "a wedge," from Proto-Germanic *wagjaz (source also of Old Norse veggr, Middle Dutch wegge, Dutch wig, Old High German weggi "wedge," dialectal German Weck "wedge-shaped bread roll"), of uncertain origin; perhaps related to Latin vomer "plowshare." From 1610s in
    sustain
    late 13c., sustenen, transitive, "provide the necessities of life to;" by early 14c. as "give support to (an effort or cause); also in physical senses, "keep from falling or sinking, hold up or upright;" also "give assistance to; keep (a quarrel, etc.) going." It is from the stem
    hold
    Middle English holden, earlier halden, from Old English haldan (Anglian), healdan (West Saxon), "to contain; to grasp; to retain (liquid, etc.); to observe, fulfill (a custom, etc.); to have as one's own; to have in mind (of opinions, etc.); to possess, control, rule; to detain,
    block
    "solid piece," early 14c., blok, blokke, "large solid piece of wood," usually with one or more plane faces, from Old French bloc "log, block" of wood (13c.), which is from a Germanic source such as Middle Dutch bloc "trunk of a tree," Old High German bloh (from PIE *bhlugo-, from
    fix
    late 14c., "set (one's eyes or mind) on something" (a figurative use), probably from Old French verb *fixer, from fixe "fixed," from Latin fixus "fixed, fast, immovable; established, settled," past-participle adjective from figere "to fix, fasten, drive, thrust in; pierce through
    grasp
    mid-14c., "to reach, grope, feel around," possibly a metathesis of grapsen, from Old English *græpsan "to touch, feel," from Proto-Germanic *grap-, *grab- (source also of East Frisian grapsen "to grasp," Middle Dutch grapen "to seize, grasp," Old English grapian "to touch, feel,
    recuse
    late 14c., recusen, "to decline, refuse," especially "reject another's authority or jurisdiction over oneself as prejudiced," from Old French recuser (13c.) and directly from Latin recusare "make an objection against; decline, refuse, reject; be reluctant to," from re- (see re-)
    rescue
    late 14c., rescoue, "act of saving from danger, confinement, enemies, etc., from rescue (v.). The earlier noun or form of the noun in Middle English was rescous (early 14c.), from Old French rescous, verbal noun to rescourre, rescorre. As an adjective by 1888 (William Booth) "aim
    secure
    1530s, "without care or fear, dreading no evil" (a sense now archaic), from Latin securus, of persons, "free from care, quiet, easy," also in a bad sense, "careless, reckless;" of things, "tranquil; free from danger, safe," from *se cura, from se "free from" (see se-) + cura "car
    ceruse
    late 14c., "white lead; a mixture or compound of hydrate and carbonate of lead, produced by exposing in thin plates to the vapor of vinegar" [Century Dictionary], from Old French ceruse, from Latin cerussa, "white lead." It is perhaps ultimately from a Greek or Latin word meaning

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