Meaning of chew in English

chew

verb [ I or T ]

/tʃuː/ us

/tʃuː/

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to crush food into smaller, softer pieces with the teeth so that it can be swallowed:

This meat is difficult to chew.

You don't chew your food enough - that's why you get indigestion.

Thesaurus: synonyms, antonyms, and examples

to chew food

chewMake sure you chew your food thoroughly.
biteShe bit into the apple.
nibbleShe nibbled on peanuts while waiting for her dinner to cook.
munchHe munched popcorn throughout the whole film.
crunchShe was crunching on an apple.
chompHe was chomping a chocolate bar.

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to bite something repeatedly with your teeth, usually in order to taste its flavour:

Would you like some gum to chew?

chew on She gave the children some sweets to chew on during the long car journey.

She sat in the dentist's waiting room, nervously chewing at (= biting) her nails.

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She chewed each delicious mouthful as slowly as she could, prolonging the pleasure.
Make sure you chew your food properly.
The dog was chewing happily on the bone.
His dog has chewed my slippers.
She's always chewing gum.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Biting, chewing & swallowing

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Idioms

chew the fat

chew the scenery

Phrasal verbs

chew on something
chew someone out
chew something over
chew something up

chew

noun [ C ]

/tʃuː/ us

/tʃuː/

an act of chewing something

a piece of hard food that can be given to an animal to chew:

Chews can be a good way to improve your pet's oral hygiene.

dog chew Dog chews are sometimes made from rawhide or bone.

mainly UK

a hard sweet that gets softer the more you chew it

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Biting, chewing & swallowing

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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Animal food

Sweets

(Definition of chew from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

chew | American Dictionary

chew

verb [ I/T ]

/tʃu/

Add to word list Add to word list

to crush food into smaller, softer pieces with the teeth so that it is easier to swallow:

[ T ] The steak was tough and hard to chew.

Phrasal verbs

chew on something
chew someone out
chew over something
chew up something

(Definition of chew from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of chew

chew

Clinically significant dysphagia is less common, however many have minor dysphagia and difficulty in chewing.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

In moderate dysphagia, they may need to modify the diet to softer food, which is more easily chewed or swallowed.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Effects on whole saliva of chewing gums containing calcium phosphates.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The larvae become cylindrical with a round head, chewing mouthparts and protolegs.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

All phases of the life cycle of chewing lice take place on a host individual.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The leaves were chewed and the soluble contents extracted by the bats.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The child was asked to hold a small piece of candy on his 0 her tongue, without chewing, eating, or swallowing it.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

She asked me to remind you, though, that there is to be no gum chewing while you study these rules.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

In case 2, restlessness in the mouth has been reported and the patient relieved this sensation in the mouth by chewing gum.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

We should not be attempting to bite off a single piece of innovative information that cannot be chewed and carefully digested.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Small pieces of anthelmintic tablets chewed and left by foxes were observed around 6n9 % of bait hole-nights consumed by foxes.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

No negotiation or sales of chewing gum could be made without the authorisation of the federation's president.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

At the time, the chewing gum industry and timber were the most important sources of state revenue.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

However, he finds another use for it : chewing gum.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The adult continued chewing an almost circular hole about the width of the front of its head.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

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These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

What is the pronunciation of chew?

Translations of chew

in Chinese (Traditional)

咀嚼, 嚼碎, （尤指為品嚐味道而）嚼，咬…

in Chinese (Simplified)

咀嚼, 嚼碎, （尤指为品尝味道而）嚼，咬…

in Spanish

masticar, mascar, masticable…

in Portuguese

mastigar, mascar…

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in Italian

चावणे, चघळणे…

かむ, 噛（か）む…

çiğnemek, tıka basa doldurup çiğnemek…

mâcher, mãcher…

mastegar…

kauwen…

உணவை சிறிய, மென்மையான துண்டுகளாக பற்களால் நசுக்க, அதனால் அதை விழுங்க முடியும்…

(खाद्य सामग्री खाने हेतु) चबाना, (स्वाद चखने हेतु) चबाना…

ચાવવું (ખાવા માટે), (ચાખવું) ચાવવું…

tygge…

tugga…

kunyah…

kauen…

tygge…

چبانا, چکھنا, جگالی کرنا…

жувати…

పళ్లతో నములు, ఆహార పదార్థాలను నోటిలో పళ్లతో చిన్న చిన్న ముక్కలుగా మెత్తగా మింగే విధంగా చేయడం., కొరకడం/నమలడం. సాధారణంగా ఆకలి లేనప్పుడు రుచి కోసం తినడం…

খাবার চিবিয়ে খাওয়া, চিবোনো…

žvýkat…

mengunyah…

เคี้ยว…

nhai…

pogryźć, żuć…