Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Language: Old English
Origin: ceowan

chew

1 verb
     
chew1
1 [intransitive and transitive] to bite food several times before swallowing it:
This meat's so tough I can hardly chew it!
chew at/on
a dog chewing on a bone
2 [intransitive and transitive] to bite something continuously in order to taste it or because you are nervous
chew on
We gave the dog an old shoe to chew on.
3

chew the cud

if a cow or sheep chews the cud, it keeps biting on food it has brought up from its stomach
4

chew the fat

informal to have a long friendly conversation

➔ bite off more than you can chew

at bite1 (10)

chew on something

phrasal verb
informal to think carefully about something for a period of time

chew somebody ↔ out

phrasal verb
to talk angrily to someone in order to show them that you disapprove of what they have done:
John couldn't get the guy to cooperate and so I had to call and chew him out.

chew something ↔ over

phrasal verb
to think carefully about something for a period of time:
Let me chew it over for a few days.

chew something ↔ up

phrasal verb
1 to damage or destroy something by tearing it into small pieces:
Be careful if you use that video recorder. It tends to chew tapes up.
2 to bite something many times with your teeth so that you can make it smaller or softer and swallow it:
The dog's chewed up my slippers again.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.
 
Dictionary pictures of the day
Do you know what each of these is called?
What is the word for picture 1? What is the word for picture 2? What is the word for picture 3? What is the word for picture 4?
Click on any of the pictures above to find out what it is called.

Explore our topic dictionary

ADVERTISING AND MARKETINGANIMALSBANKING
BIOLOGYBUSINESS BASICSCOMPUTERS
CLOTHESDAILY LIFEEDUCATION
FINANCEFOODGRAMMAR
HAIR AND BEAUTYHUMANLAW
MUSICNATURESPORT
STOCKS AND SHARESTECHNOLOGYTRADE