English
Etymology
Old English ��owan
Pronunciation
:Rhymes: Rhymes:English:-u�|-u�
Noun
en-noun
- countable A small sweet, such as a taffy, that is eaten by chewing.
#:Phillip purchased a bag of licorice chews at the drugstore.
- context|informal|uncountable chewing tobacco|Chewing tobacco.
#:The school had banned chew and smokes from the school grounds, even for adults.
- (countable or uncountable) A plug or wad of chewing tobacco; chaw or a chaw.
#:The ballplayers sat on the bench watching the rain, glumly working their chews.
#:The first time he chewed tobacco, he swallowed his chew and got extremely sick.''
Related terms
penny chew
Verb
en-verb
- To crush with the tooth|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.
#:Make sure to chew thoroughly, and don't talk with your mouth full!
#:The steak was tough to chew as it had been cooked too long.
- To grind, tear, or otherwise degrade or demolish something with teeth or as with teeth.
#:He keep his feed in steel drums to prevent the mice from chewing holes in the feed-sacks.
#:The harsh desert wind and sand had chewed the stump into ragged strips of wood.
- context|colloquial To think about something; to ponder; to chew over.
#:The professor stood at the blackboard, chalk in hand, and chewed the question the student had asked.
Synonyms
(crush food with teeth prior to swallowing): bite, chomp, crunch, masticate
(degrade or demolish as if with teeth): grind, pulverize, rip, shred, tear
(think about): contemplate, ruminate, mull, muse, ponder
Related terms
chewing gum
chew out
chew over
chew the cud
chew up
chewy
Translations
trans-top|crush food with teeth prior to swallowing
Bosnian: žvakati
CJKV Characters: �
Chinese: �, ��
Croatian: žvakati
Czech: žvýkat
Finnish: pureskella, jauhaa
French: mâcher
German: kauen
Hebrew: ��ע�ס (lil'os)
Italian: masticare
Japanese: �� (��, kamu)
trans-mid
Korean: 깨물� (kkaemulda), �� (ssibda, ssipda)
Portuguese: mastigar
Serbian:
:Cyrillic: жвака�и
:Roman: žvakati
Slovene: žve�iti
Spanish: masticar
Swedish: tugga
Telugu: నమ�ల� (namulu)
trans-bottom
fr:chew
gl:chew
ko:chew
io:chew
it:chew
hu:chew
ru:chew
te:chew
vi:chew
zh:chew
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