Sekirov Dictionary

chew

UK /tʃuː/US /tʃɪʊ̯/

verb 5
noun 6
forms 5
phrases 7

verb5

•
to break food into small pieces by moving the teeth up and down on it
- 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 chew tobacco.
- To reduce cancer risk, it is best that you neither chew nor smoke.
- He'd been chewing for many years by the time he first noticed some white plaques on his oral mucosa.
•
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.
- The harsh desert wind and sand had chewed the stump into ragged strips of wood.
•
(informal) 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.
•
(informal) The condition of something being torn or ground up mechanically.
- Avoiding Tape Chew. In the early days of the ADAT, the "V" blocks (two arms that thread the tape around the front of the head) could sometimes get out of alignment and "chew" the outside track […] — 1995

noun6

•
The act of chewing; mastication with the mouth.
- I popped the gum into my mouth and gave it a chew.
•
(informal) The condition of something being torn or ground up mechanically.
- Avoiding Tape Chew. In the early days of the ADAT, the "V" blocks (two arms that thread the tape around the front of the head) could sometimes get out of alignment and "chew" the outside track […] — 1995
•
A small sweet, such as a taffy, that is eaten by chewing.
- Phillip purchased a bag of licorice chews at the drugstore.
•
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.
•
(informal) Chewing tobacco.
- The school had banned chew and smokes from the school grounds, even for adults.
•
Level of chewiness.
- Once it's cooked, it's not enough of a hard chew to count. — 1996

forms

chewed · chewn · chewing · cheweth · chews

Phrases with chew

This dictionary works without the internet: on your phone · in Chrome