chew
To crush with the teeth by repeated closing and opening of the jaws; done to food to soften it and break it down by the action of saliva before it is swallowed.
Example
“Make sure to chew thoroughly, and don't talk with your mouth full!”
Other meanings
To grind, tear, or otherwise degrade or demolish something with teeth or as with teeth.
“He keeps his feed in steel drums to prevent the mice from chewing holes in the feed-sacks.”
To chew tobacco.
“To reduce cancer risk, it is best that you neither chew nor smoke.”
Synonyms
- jaw
Example sentences
Word history
From Old English "ċēowan".
Where this comes from
This definition is adapted from “chew” on Wiktionary, by its contributors; example sentences are from Tatoeba, credited to their authors above; related-word lists use Open English WordNet (CC BY 4.0, based on Princeton WordNet), published under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page is published under the same licence.