Chuck definition. n. Western U.S. Slang. food; provisions.

Chicken is sometimes referred to as 'chuck' but more than likely because all the food is 'chucked' into a hearty stew. :o)

From this site: http://www.word-detective.com/021402.html (Copied text): Dear Word Detective: I'm wondering about "chuck wagon," the vehicle that carries the food in western movies. Obviously, I get the "wagon" part, but what's the "chuck"? I think all these years I've been tying together "ground chuck" as meat, and a "chuck wagon" as the wagon with the food, so I didn't question it until someone at work asked me. -- Patricia Lundstrom, via the internet. Hey, I remember chuck wagons. Back when I was young enough to enjoy watching westerns, I recall thinking that running the chuck wagon was by far the best gig on the trail. No chasing stupid cows all day, lots of spare time while the cowboys were off getting bitten by rattlers, and if anything went seriously wrong, you've got all the food. Of course, it seemed that you kinda had to be an elderly alcoholic to get the job, but I figured I could always fake that part. I also recall making the same assumption that "chuck wagon" simply meant the wagon where the "ground chuck" or "chuck steak" was kept. As it happens, we were both in the ballpark, but still a few steps away from home plate. "Chuck wagon" and "ground chuck" are not directly related, but they do have a common ancestor. The "chuck" in "chuck wagon" is simply an 18th century slang term for "food," and originally was a naval slang for the sort of hard biscuits served to sailors aboard ship. This "chuck" is almost certainly a derivative of "chuck" (a variant of "chunk") meaning, since the 17th century, a large, irregularly-shaped piece of something, including a hunk of bread or meat. This sense of "chuck" meaning "big hunk of meat" also had a more specific meaning to butchers beginning in about 1723, namely "the cut of meat from the forequarters of a cow, from the horns to the rib cage." This is where "ground chuck" beef comes from. So "chuck" in the sense of "big hunk" eventually gave us "chuck" as generalized slang for food (found in "chuck wagon"), as well as a technical term for a certain part of a cow's anatomy. (End of copied text) So you can see, it all goes back to Sailors somewhere along the line!

Cowboys referred to food as "chuck"

Maybe Chuck was the name of the Chef.

In tribute to Chuck Conners. It was his wagon. The food was so tough that he lost his teeth. He continues to look for his teeth today. He lost them in the wagon.

The Indians knew what a chuck wagon was. The food made the cowboys chuck up, the Indians would attack while the chucking went on. It nearly changed history, the Indians might have won the war if the cooks hadn't been changed just in the nick of time. Did you hear about the time when the President of the United States hired a painter to do a mural for the election of a new president. I want you to paint me a picture of Custers last thoughts before Chief Sitting Bull over ran his troops, killing them all. The day came, election over, time to unveil the mural. The curtain dropped to reveal the whole wall. At the top was a fish with a halo, under that the complete wall was covered in Indians making love. The President was dumbfounded, he went to the artist, what's the meaning of this. The artist replied, you said to paint what Custers last thoughts would have been. He would have thought. 'Holy mackeral, look at all those fu-----ing Indians.

+5 Thanks that was so funny