chew

Etymology

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 ژول (žovạl, “to bite, gnaw”).

verb

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!
   The steak was tough to chew as it had been cooked too long.
   The same chewn upon maketh one to avoid much phlegm. 1578, Henry Lyte, A niewe Herball
   1971-79, Journal of Glenn T. Seaborg And gruesome they areː We find cattle still alive with hindquarters chewn off, still alive with their eyes chewn out, their ears chewn off, their noses and faces chewn till they look like (a) Hamburger, their tails hanging in shreds. Or, we find them after a slow and cruel death. Can you understand why cattlemen will shoot YOUR dog if he is seen wandering on ranchland?
   But meanwhile Mademoiselle's book had at least been found under an arm-chair where it had been dragged, chewn up and torn to pieces by a young pug-dog or by a kitten. 1976, Denis Diderot, translated by Leonard Tancock, Rameau's Nephew / D'alembert's Dream
   He wore two sweaters, both moth chewn and filthy but warm. 2001, Keith Douglass, Seal Team Seven 14: Death Blow
   His left cheek seemed to have been cut and chewn awayǃ 2010, Tony Reynolds, The Lost Stories of Sherlock Holmes
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.
   The harsh desert wind and sand had chewed the stump into ragged strips of wood.
3. (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.
   Old politicians chew on wisdom past. 1734, Alexander Pope, Epistle to Cobham
   He chews revenge, abjuring his offense. 1711, Matthew Prior, to Mr. Harley, wounded by Guiscard

noun

1. The act of chewing; mastication with the mouth.
   I popped the gum into my mouth and gave it a chew.
2. Level of chewiness.
   Once it's cooked, it's not enough of a hard chew to count. 1996, Adele Puhn, The 5-Day Miracle Diet Companion
   A bread with a strong and solidified gluten network has a nice chew to it, and many types of charcuterie call for just enough work by the teeth to be dangerously addictive. But in all cases, chewy must be combined with an appropriate amount of ... 2014, Christian F. Puglisi, Relae: A Book of Ideas, page 140
   No matter what I did to the squid, it was a tough chew. I got out my magnifying glass. Still, there was nothing that I could see to make the squid curl when cooked. I decided to tenderize the squid with my rubber hammer. 2015, Jim "Sunny" Edwards, A Footprint in the Sand: The Fishing Edge, Fulton Books, Inc.
   To serve, cook the malloredus in a large pot of boiling salted water until just tender, but with a nice chew to them. Fold into a warm sauce or ragout and serve immediately. 2015, Aki Kamozawa, H. Alexander Talbot, Gluten-Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table, W. W. Norton & Company
   While these are a little complicated to make, the result is a thick, toothsome bun that has a nice chew to it but is still soft. 2016, Heather Christo, Pure Delicious, Penguin, page 178
3. 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 or uncountable) A plug or wad of chewing tobacco; chaw or a chaw.
   The ballplayers sat on the bench watching the rain, glumly working their chews.
   The first time he chewed tobacco, he swallowed his chew and got extremely sick.
6. (uncountable, informal) 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 […] 1995, Keyboard, volume 21, numbers 7-12, page 138