Chew

[choo] /tʃu/

verb (used with object)
1.
to crush or grind with the teeth; masticate.
2.
to crush, damage, injure, etc., as if by chewing (often followed by up):
The faulty paper feeder chewed the letters up.
3.
to make by or as if by chewing:
The puppy chewed a hole in my slipper.
4.
to meditate on; consider deliberately (often followed by over):
He chewed the problem over in his mind.
verb (used without object)
5.
to perform the act of crushing or grinding with the teeth.
6.
Informal. to chew tobacco.
7.
to meditate.
noun
8.
an act or instance of chewing.
9.
something chewed or intended for chewing:
a chew of tobacco; taffy chews.
Verb phrases
10.
chew out, Slang. to scold harshly:
The sergeant chewed out the recruits.
Idioms
11.
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.
/tʃuː/
verb
1.
to work the jaws and teeth in order to grind (food); masticate
2.
to bite repeatedly: she chewed her nails anxiously
3.
(intransitive) to use chewing tobacco
4.
(slang) chew the fat, chew the rag

noun
5.
the act of chewing
6.
something that is chewed: a chew of tobacco
v.

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.
n.

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.

noun

: He had big chew in his cheek (1920s+)

verb