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Chew

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chew¹

  • /tʃuː/ UK
  • /tʃʉw/ British, Southern, Standard
  • /tʃɪʊ̯/ Canada, Wales
  • /t͡ʃ(j)u/ Canada, US

Rhymes with -uː

Where it comes from

From Middle English chewen, from Old English ċēowan, from Proto-West Germanic *keuwan, from Proto-Germanic *kewwaną, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵyewh₁-. Cognate with West Frisian kôgje, Low German käwwen, Dutch kauwen, German kauen; also Latin gingīva (“gums”), Tocharian B śuwaṃ (“to eat”), Polish żuć (“to chew”), Persian جویدن (javidan), Pashto ژُوَل (žovạl, “to bite, gnaw”).

verb chews · chewing · chewed · chewn

  1. To crush with the teeth by repeated closing and opening of the jaws; done to food to soften it and break it down by the action of saliva before it is swallowed. Make sure to chew thoroughly, and don't talk with your mouth full!
  2. To grind, tear, or otherwise degrade or demolish something with teeth or as with teeth. He keeps his feed in steel drums to prevent the mice from chewing holes in the feed-sacks.
  3. informal, uncountable The condition of something being torn or ground up mechanically. Avoiding Tape Chew. In the early days of the ADAT, the "V" blocks (two arms that thread the tape around the front of the head) could sometimes get out of alignment and "chew" the outside track […]
  4. informal To think about something; to ponder; to chew over. The professor stood at the blackboard, chalk in hand, and chewed the question the student had asked.
  5. To chew tobacco. To reduce cancer risk, it is best that you neither chew nor smoke.

chew²

  • /tʃuː/ UK
  • /tʃʉw/ British, Southern, Standard
  • /tʃɪʊ̯/ Canada, Wales
  • /t͡ʃ(j)u/ Canada, US

Rhymes with -uː

Where it comes from

From Middle English chew, cheu, icheu, from Old English *ċēaw, *ġeċēaw (“chewing”), from Proto-West Germanic *kauw, *gakauw (“chewing”), from Proto-Germanic *kewwaną (“to chew”). Cognate with obsolete Dutch kauw (“chewing”), Dutch gekauw (“chewing”), West Frisian gekau (“chewing”).

noun chews

  1. countable, uncountable The act of chewing; mastication with the mouth. I popped the gum into my mouth and gave it a chew.
  2. countable, uncountable Level of chewiness. Once it's cooked, it's not enough of a hard chew to count.
  3. countable, uncountable A small sweet, such as a taffy, that is eaten by chewing. Phillip purchased a bag of licorice chews at the drugstore.
  4. informal, uncountable Chewing tobacco. The school had banned chew and smokes from the school grounds, even for adults.
  5. countable A plug or wad of chewing tobacco; chaw or a chaw. The ballplayers sat on the bench watching the rain, glumly working their chews.
  6. informal, uncountable The condition of something being torn or ground up mechanically. Avoiding Tape Chew. In the early days of the ADAT, the "V" blocks (two arms that thread the tape around the front of the head) could sometimes get out of alignment and "chew" the outside track […]

Chew³

Where it comes from

* As an English surname, Chew has a number of separate origins:

** A toponymic surname referring to a place in Billington, Lancashire. It was originally spelled Cho, from Middle English cho, which is possibly a descendant of Old English *cēo (“gill”), denoting a ravine.

** A toponymic surname referring to Chew Magna or Chew Stoke in Somerset, England.

** A nickname from Old English ċīo, ċēo, which refers to smaller chattering species of crow, in particular the red-billed chough.

* As a Chinese surname, borrowed from Hokkien 周 (Chiu), Teochew 周 (ziu1), Cantonese 趙／赵 (ziu6), etc.

proper noun Chews

  1. countable, uncountable A surname.
  2. countable, uncountable A river in Somerset, England.

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