chew
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to crush or grind with the teeth; masticate.
-
to crush, damage, injure, etc., as if by chewing (often followed byup ).
The faulty paper feeder chewed the letters up.
-
to make by or as if by chewing.
The puppy chewed a hole in my slipper.
-
to meditate on; consider deliberately (often followed byover ).
He chewed the problem over in his mind.
verb (used without object)
-
to perform the act of crushing or grinding with the teeth.
-
Informal. to chew tobacco.
-
to meditate.
noun
-
an act or instance of chewing.
-
something chewed or intended for chewing.
a chew of tobacco; taffy chews.
verb phrase
idioms
verb
-
to work the jaws and teeth in order to grind (food); masticate
-
to bite repeatedly
she chewed her nails anxiously
-
(intr) to use chewing tobacco
-
slang
-
to argue over a point
-
to talk idly; gossip
-
noun
-
the act of chewing
-
something that is chewed
a chew of tobacco
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
chewsimple
-
chewssimple
-
have chewedperfect
-
has chewedperfect
-
am chewingprogressive
-
are chewingprogressive
-
is chewingprogressive
-
have been chewingperfect progressive
-
has been chewingperfect progressive
Past
-
chewedsimple
-
had chewedperfect
-
was chewingprogressive
-
were chewingprogressive
-
had been chewingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of chew
before 1000; Middle English chewen, Old English cēowan; cognate with Old High German kiuwan ( German kauen )
Explanation
When you chew, you use your teeth to grind up food before you swallow it. It can be pretty unpleasant to watch your brother chew his pizza with his mouth open. Usually when people chew, they chew up a bite of food or chew on a candy bar. You can also chew your nails or chew your lower lip — you're not actually eating something, but just using your teeth to gnaw or bite. You can also use the word chew figuratively, to mean "think or mull over." It comes from an Old English root, ceowan, "to gnaw or chew."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“When I take a bite, I chew through small lumps of egg, presumably scrambled by the hot butter,” she writes.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 26, 2026
Yet even Amik needed 30 years to chew his way out of the billion dollars in red ink that the Montreal Olympics cost.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 6, 2026
Agents can chew through data analysis much faster than humans can, and this could raise consumption as workloads shift from people to machines.
From Barron's • May 27, 2026
Their analysis of fossil jaws suggests giant octopuses glided through the oceans equipped with the ability to chew on the hard shells and skeletons of large fish and marine reptiles.
From BBC • Apr. 23, 2026
I felt better after she gave me a stick of gum to chew.
From "The Million Dollar Shot" by Dan Gutman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
