chunder

Syllables: chun·der

More pronunciations (2)Fewer pronunciations

Australia/ˈtʃandə/New Zealand/ˈtʃɐndə/

chunder noun: vomit.

Noun

chunder (countable and uncountable, plural chunders)

(Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, slang) Vomit.
- I had puke streamers hanging from both nostrils; it wasn′t as watery as my chunder usually is (from drinking).1996 April 24, Andrew Shore, “Nose Chunder (was Re: Grogan Epidemic at ERR)”, in alt.tasteless (Usenet)
(Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, slang) An act of vomiting.
- I would guess it points up the difference between the involuntary chunder where you cannot choose the time place or direction, and the self-induced chunder which facilitates further consumption of alcohol after your theoretical limit is reached.2001 September 9, John Dean, “‘chunder’”, in alt.usage.english (Usenet)
Heavy, sticky snow that makes snowsports difficult.

Verb (1)

chunder (third-person singular simple present chunders, present participle chundering, simple past and past participle chundered)

(Australia, New Zealand, UK, slang) To throw up, to vomit, particularly from excessive alcohol consumption.
- I come from a land down under / Where beer does flow and men chunder / Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder? / You better run, you better take cover1980, Colin Hay, Ron Strykert, “Down Under”, performed by Men at Work
- There are plenty of winding roads, diesel fumes, crowded public transport and various less than sweet odours to get you chundering when you′re on the move in this part of the world, so take a good supply of motion sickness remedies if you know you′re susceptible to this.2008, Isabelle Young, Tony Gherardin, Central and South America, Lonely Planet, page 70
Synonyms:

regurgitate

Verb (2)

chunder (third-person singular simple present chunders, present participle chundering, simple past and past participle chundered)

Of a motor vehicle: to rumble loudly, to roar.
- The truck chundered and rattled.2005, Robert Newman, The Fountain at the Centre of the World, page 114
- As their rented van chunders along the highway, John′s voiceover is heard, contemplating the compulsion that drives men to continue using juvenile punk monikers into their mid-thirties.2007, George Melnyk, Great Canadian Film Directors, page 215
(New-England) To grumble, complain.

Examples of chunder in a sentence

“You might have chundered,” said Kate, laughing, “but at least you didn′t get any on yourself—sign of a true lady.”2009, William Efford, Picaroon, page 313:
Pretty soon just about everyone onboard was leaning over the rail chundering like sick dogs.2010, Norman Jorgensen, Jack′s Island, page 3:
Then, with full flap and maximum throttle, he came chundering along towards us.2008, Jill Dickin Schinas, A Family Outing in the Atlantic, page 156:

Synonyms of chunder

Forms of chunder

Noun
plural	chunders
Verb
third-person singular present	chunders
present participle	chundering
past participle	chundered
past	chundered
alternative form	junder

Origin of chunder

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.

Perhaps by confusion with chunter.

Words formed from chunder

Words that rhyme with chunder

2 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about chunder

What does chunder mean?: Chunder means vomit.
How do you use chunder in a sentence?: “You might have chundered,” said Kate, laughing, “but at least you didn′t get any on yourself—sign of a true lady.”
What part of speech is chunder?: Chunder can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce chunder?: Chunder is pronounced /ˈtʃandə/ (Australia).
What is the plural of chunder?: The plural of chunder is chunders.

Words near chunder in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: chunder (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: EN-AU ck1 chunder.ogg.

Cite this entry: “chunder.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/chunder. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.