chew

CEFRB1

/tʃuː/

verb · noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    verb

    To bite food repeatedly until it is soft enough to swallow.

  2. 02

    verb

    Extra detail

    To grind, tear, or otherwise degrade or demolish something with teeth or as with teeth.

Examples

  • Always chew food well before swallowing it.

  • Chew your food well so it can be digested properly.

At a glance

Sits at B1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Also pronounced

  • /t͡ʃ(j)u/
  • /tʃɪʊ̯/

Deep Dive

verb

Extra meanings

  1. To think about something; to ponder; to chew over.

  2. 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.

noun

Extra meaning

  1. The act of chewing; mastication with the mouth.

More examples

In context

  • Mabel loves to chew the fat while playing bridge.

  • 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.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The dog began to blank on a new bone for hours.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

verb

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”).