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.

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