chew

chew¹ [tʃu:] v

[: Old English; Origin: ceowan]

1.) [I and T]

to bite food several times before swallowing it

▪ This meat's so tough I can hardly chew it!

chew at/on

▪ a dog chewing on a bone

2.) [I and T]

to bite something continuously in order to taste it or because you are nervous

chew on

▪ We gave the dog an old shoe to chew on.

chew your lip/nails

▪ She chewed her lip and said nothing.

chew gum/tobacco

3.) chew the cud

if a cow or sheep chews the cud, it keeps biting on food it has brought up from its stomach

4.) chew the fat informal

to have a long friendly conversation

→bite off more than you can chew at ↑bite¹ (10)

chew on [chew on sth] phr v

informal to think carefully about something for a period of time

chew out [chew sb<=>out] phr v

to talk angrily to someone in order to show them that you disapprove of what they have done

▪ John couldn't get the guy to cooperate and so I had to call and chew him out.

chew over [chew sth<=>over] phr v

to think carefully about something for a period of time

▪ Let me chew it over for a few days.

chew up [chew sth<=>up] phr v

1.) to damage or destroy something by tearing it into small pieces

▪ Be careful if you use that video recorder. It tends to chew tapes up.

2.) to bite something many times with your teeth so that you can make it smaller or softer and swallow it

▪ The dog's chewed up my slippers again.

chew ²

chew² n

1.) the act of biting something many times with your teeth

2.) a sweet that you chew

3.) a piece of tobacco that you chew but do not swallow