chew

[choo]

verb (used with object)

to crush or grind with the teeth; masticate.

to crush, damage, injure, etc., as if by chewing (often followed by up): 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 by over): 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 Phrases

chew out, Slang. to scold harshly: The sergeant chewed out the recruits.

Idioms

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. 2019

British Dictionary definitions for chew up

chew up

verb (tr, adverb)

to damage or destroy (something) by or as by chewing or grinding

(usually passive) slang to cause (a person) to be nervous or worriedhe was all chewed up about the interview

chew

verb

to work the jaws and teeth in order to grind (food); masticate

to bite repeatedlyshe chewed her nails anxiously

(intr) to use chewing tobacco

chew the fat or chew the rag slang

to argue over a point
to talk idly; gossip

noun

the act of chewing

something that is cheweda chew of tobacco

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

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

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.

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