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definitions

chew

[choo]
verb (used with object)
  1. to crush or grind with the teeth; masticate.
  2. to crush, damage, injure, etc., as if by chewing (often followed by up): The faulty paper feeder chewed the letters up.
  3. to make by or as if by chewing: The puppy chewed a hole in my slipper.
  4. to meditate on; consider deliberately (often followed by over): He chewed the problem over in his mind.
verb (used without object)
  1. to perform the act of crushing or grinding with the teeth.
  2. Informal. to chew tobacco.
  3. to meditate.
noun
  1. an act or instance of chewing.
  2. something chewed or intended for chewing: a chew of tobacco; taffy chews.
Verb Phrases
  1. chew out, Slang. to scold harshly: The sergeant chewed out the recruits.
Idioms
  1. chew the fat, Informal. to converse at length in a relaxed manner; chat: They liked to sit around chewing the fat.Also chew the rag.

Origin of chew

before 1000; Middle English chewen, Old English cēowan; cognate with Old High German kiuwan (German kauen)
Related formschew·er, nounun·chewed, adjectivewell-chewed, adjective
Can be confusedchews choose
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
British Dictionary definitions for chew up

chew up

verb (tr, adverb)
  1. to damage or destroy (something) by or as by chewing or grinding
  2. (usually passive) slang to cause (a person) to be nervous or worriedhe was all chewed up about the interview

chew

verb
  1. to work the jaws and teeth in order to grind (food); masticate
  2. to bite repeatedlyshe chewed her nails anxiously
  3. (intr) to use chewing tobacco
  4. chew the fat or chew the rag slang
    1. to argue over a point
    2. to talk idly; gossip
noun
  1. the act of chewing
  2. something that is cheweda chew of tobacco
See also chew out, chew over, chew up
Derived Formschewable, adjectivechewer, noun

Word Origin for chew

Old English ceowan; related to Old High German kiuwan, Dutch kauwen, Latin gingīva a gum
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for chew up

chew

v.

Old English ceowan "to bite, gnaw, chew," from West Germanic *keuwwan (cf. Middle Low German keuwen, Dutch kauwen, Old High German kiuwan, German kauen), from PIE root *gyeu- "to chew" (cf. Old Church Slavonic živo "to chew," Lithuanian žiaunos "jaws," Persian javidan "to chew").

Figurative sense of "to think over" is from late 14c.; to chew the rag "discusss some matter" is from 1885, apparently originally British army slang. Related: Chewed; chewing. To chew (someone) out (1948) probably is military slang from World War II. Chewing gum is by 1843, American English, originally hardened secretions of the spruce tree.

chew

n.

c.1200, "an act of chewing," from chew (v.). Meaning "wad of tobacco chewed at one time" is from 1725; as a kind of chewy candy, by 1906.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with chew up

chew

In addition to the idioms beginning with chew

  • chew out
  • chew the cud
  • chew the fat

also see:

  • bite off more than one can chew
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.