chew
verb /tʃuː/
/tʃuː/
Verb Forms
Idioms Phrasal Verbs| present simple I / you / we / they chew | /tʃuː/ /tʃuː/ |
| he / she / it chews | /tʃuːz/ /tʃuːz/ |
| past simple chewed | /tʃuːd/ /tʃuːd/ |
| past participle chewed | /tʃuːd/ /tʃuːd/ |
| -ing form chewing | /ˈtʃuːɪŋ/ /ˈtʃuːɪŋ/ |
- [intransitive, transitive] to bite food into small pieces in your mouth with your teeth to make it easier to swallow
- chew (at/on/through something) After the operation you may find it difficult to chew and swallow.
- chew something (up) teeth designed for chewing meat
- He is always chewing gum.
Extra Examples- The baby chewed on a piece of bread.
- Chew your food up well before you swallow it.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- thoroughly
- well
- slowly
- …
- at
- on
- [intransitive, transitive] to bite something continuously, for example because you are nervous or to taste it
- chew on/at something Rosa chewed on her lip and stared at the floor.
- The dog was chewing on a bone.
- She was chewing at her lower lip.
- chew something to chew your nails
Homophones chews | choosechews choose/tʃuːz//tʃuːz/- chews verb (third person of chew)
- She chews her lip thoughtfully before replying.
- choose verb
- The magazine will choose six young designers.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- thoroughly
- well
- slowly
- …
- at
- on
Word OriginOld English cēowan, of West Germanic origin; related to Dutch kauwen and German kauen.
Idioms
bite off more than you can chew
- to try to do too much, or something that is too difficultTopics Difficulty and failurec2
chew the fat
- (informal) to have a long friendly talk with somebody about something
- Randall stayed chewing the fat for a while.
- They met up once a year to chew the fat about the old days.