chew

Meanings

Verb

• 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.
• To grind, tear, or otherwise degrade or demolish something with teeth or as with teeth.
• To think about something; to ponder; to chew over.

Noun

• The act of chewing; mastication with the mouth.
• Level of chewiness.
• A small sweet, such as a taffy, that is eaten by chewing.
• Chewing tobacco.
• A plug or wad of chewing tobacco; chaw or a chaw.
• The condition of something being torn or ground up mechanically.

Related

Similar words

• bite, chavel, chomp, crunch, masticate
• grind, pulverize, rip, shred, tear
• contemplate, ruminate, mull, muse, ponder

Origin

• From Middle English chewen, from Old English ċēowan, from Proto-West Germanic *keuwan, from Proto-Germanic *kewwaną, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵyewh₁-. Cognate with West Frisian kôgje, Low German käwwen, Dutch kauwen, German kauen); also Latin gingīva ("gums"), Tocharian B śuwaṃ ("to eat"), Polish żuć ("to chew"), Persian جویدن, Pashto ژول.