chew

Meaning

Verb

1. 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.
2. To grind, tear, or otherwise degrade or demolish something with teeth or as with teeth.
3. (informal) To think about something; to ponder; to chew over.

Noun

1. The act of chewing; mastication with the mouth.
2. Level of chewiness.
3. A small sweet, such as a taffy, that is eaten by chewing.
4. (informal) Chewing tobacco.
5. A plug or wad of chewing tobacco; chaw or a chaw.
6. (informal) The condition of something being torn or ground up mechanically.

Pronounced as (IPA)

/tʃuː/

Etymology

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 (javidan), Pashto ژول (žovạl, “to bite, gnaw”).