masticator
(ˈmæstɪkeɪtə(r))
[f. masticate v. + -or.]
One who or that which masticates.
1. pl. The teeth or jaws. jocular.
| 1694 Motteux Rabelais v. xxiii. (1737) 103 Her Masticators..chew'd it. 1765 Sterne Tr. Shandy vii. viii, Just Heaven! What masticators!—What bread! 1797 A. Seward Lett. (1811) IV. 311 His..preference of such impure masticator to the clean ivory supplied by the dentist. 1816 ‘Quiz’ Grand Master iii. 66 Their masticators they employ, On..beef, and goat. 1845 Ford Handbk. Spain i. 27 It requires powerful masticators, a vigorous appetite and digestion. |
2. A person or animal that masticates or chews.
| 1824 W. Irving T. Trav. (1850) 124 Never was there a more..thoroughly sustained attack on the trencher than by this phalanx of masticators. 1826 Kirby & Sp. Entomol. III. 417 Insects of late have been divided into two great tribes, masticators and suckers. 1854 Badham Halieut. 434 The Shark is not a careful masticator. 1860 Tristram Gt. Sahara vi. 95 The dyers actually hire masticators to provide them with tannin. |
3. A machine for grinding or pulping.
| 1858 in Patents Specif., India Rubber (1875) 133 The gutta percha is then..submitted to the masticator. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., Masticator, a small machine to cut up meat for aged persons or those who have lost their teeth or the power of chewing. 1885 C. G. W. Lock Workshop Receipts Ser. iv. 1/2 The rubber..is introduced into the ‘masticator’, which consists of a strong cylindrical box, containing a stout deeply-fluted drum, which revolves within the box. |