▪ I. chew, v.
(tʃ(j)uː)
Forms: 1 céowan, 3 cheowen, cheouwen, chewwenn (Orm.), 3–5 chewen, 3–6 chewe, (4 chyewe, 5 schewe), 5– chew. See also variants chaw, chow.
[OE. céowan, pa. tense céaw, cuwon, pa. pple. cowen, corresp. to OHG. chiuwan, kiuwan, pa. tense kou, kūwun, gikūwan, kiuwan:—OTeut. *kewwan. The original strong pa. tense and pa. pple. appear not to have come down into ME.; an analogical pple. chewen occurs however in 16th c.]
1. a. trans. To crush, bruise, and grind to pulp, by the continued action of the molar teeth, with help of the tongue, cheeks, and saliva.
| c 1000 ælfric Hom. I. 510 (Bosw.) He het hine ceowan mid toþum his fingras. Ibid. I. 404 Hi cuwon heora girdlas, and gærs æton. a 1225 Ancr. R. 80 Hwose cheouweð spices. c 1386 Chaucer Miller's T. 504 But first he cheweth greyn and lycoris, To smellen sweete. 1601 Cornwallyes Ess. (1632) xxiv, Barre some fellow from chewing a sticke. 1710 J. Clarke Rohault's Nat. Phil. (1729) I. 175 It excites but a very small Sensation in those who chew the Wood. 1838 T. Thomson Chem. Org. Bodies 803 No astringency is perceived when a piece of it is chewed. 1839 E. D. Clarke Trav. 102/1 To lead a very idle life..chewing tobacco or opium. 1865 Livingstone Zambesi xix. 398 They frequently chew the branches for the bark and the sap alone. |
b. In early times often equivalent to gnaw.
| a 1000 Soul's Address 72 (Gr.) Þec sculun moldwyrmas ceowan. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 183 Iuele wurmes mote þe chewe. |
2. a. esp. To perform this operation upon (food), in preparation for swallowing it; to masticate. Sometimes, To eat with chewing, devour.
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xviii. 199 Let hem chewe as þei and chide we not, susteres, For hit is a botless bale þe byte þat þei eten. 1450–1530 Myrr. our Ladye 40 Bodely meate is not ryght profytable, but yf yt be wel chewyd. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. iv. iii. 102 Chewing the food of sweet and bitter fancie. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. iii. xxxii. 195 Pills..chewed, are for the most part cast up again without effect. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) III. 349 These [teeth] also seem better adapted for tearing and chewing, than those of the cat kind. 1879 Froude Cæsar xv. 247, I am chewing what I have to swallow. |
b. To masticate for another.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. vi. ix. (1495) 195 The moder chewyth meete in her mouth and makyth it redy to the tothlees chylde that he may the easylyar swolowe the meete. 1552 [see chewed]. 1713 Steele Englishm. No. 15. 101 Chew or cut it small, that the Lion may swallow it safely. |
3. fig. and transf. in many applications: a. by simile.
| 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. iii. 140 Holy churche, and charite ȝe cheweþ and deuoureþ. Ibid. vii. 154 (MS. F), I spak no speche it swal so my breste þat I chewed it as a cowe þat code chewith ofte. 1597 Bacon Ess. Studies (Arb.) 8 Some bookes are to bee tasted, others to bee swallowed, and some few to bee chewed and disgested. 1696 Evelyn in Pepys Corr. 3 Dec., I have of late been chewing over some old stories. |
b. in reference to spiritual food: To meditate on.
| c 1200 Ormin 1241 Forr þe to ȝifenn bisne þatt te birrþ ummbeþennkenn aȝȝ & chewwenn i þin heorrte Hu þu mihht cwemenn þin Drihhtin. c 1410 Love Bonavent. Mirr. (Sherard MS.) Gostly chewynge in þat manere the gospell of crist. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 174 The commaundementes of god, of the whiche we must fede dayly, and chewe them in our hertes, by ofte meditacyon. |
c. in reference to counsels, opinions, statements, etc.: To consider or examine deliberately (as a process preliminary to swallowing and digesting them).
| 1579 Tomson Calvin's Serm. Tim. 367/1 It is good..to haue thinges well chewed, that we may the better digest them. 1626 Sir C. Cornwallis Disc. Prince Henry in Harl. Misc. (1641) III. 522 Counsels are to be chewed not swallowed. 1663 J. Spencer Prodigies (1665) 397. 1678 Cudworth Intell. Syst. 560 Nor scrupulously chew or examine any thing. |
d. in reference to plans, etc.: To meditate, devise or plan deliberately.
| 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, ii. ii. 56 Capitall crimes, chew'd, swallow'd, and digested. 1682 Dryden Duke of Guise i. iii, If while alive, I cease to chew their ruin. 1718 Prior To Mr. Harley 285 He chews Revenge. |
e. in reference to words: To take or retain in the mouth; to keep saying or mumbling over.
| 1603 Shakes. Meas. for M. ii. iv. 5 Heauen in my mouth, As if I did but onely chew his name. 1833 Marryat P. Simple xxxix, Her mother was startled when she put the question to her, and chewed it, and cursed her when she insisted upon the truth. |
† f. to chew to (a person): (cf. 2 b); to reduce (anything) to a condition ready for another's use, to prepare (words, etc.) for another to utter. Obs.
| 1594 Carew tr. Huarte's Exam. Wits xi. (1616) 156 Lawyers..if the cases which the law thrusteth into their mouth bee not squared and chewed to their hands, they are to seeke what to doe. 1641 Milton Animadv. ii. Wks. (1847) 60/1 A minister that can not be trusted to pray in his own words without being chewed to..should as little be trusted to preach. |
g. Slang phr. to chew the rag or fat: to discuss a matter, esp. complainingly; to reiterate an old grievance; to grumble; to argue; to talk or chat; to spin a yarn.
| 1885 J. B. Patterson Life in Ranks ix. 77 Persisting to argue the point, or ‘chew the rag’, as it is termed in rank and file phraseology, with some extra intelligent non-commissioned officer. Ibid. xv. 124 The various diversions of whistling, singing, arguing the point, chewing the rag, or fat. 1891 J. M. Dixon Dict. Idiom. Eng. Phr. s.v., He was chewing the rag at me the whole afternoon. 1909 Scribner's Mag. Aug. 250/2 How better is conversational impotence characterized than by ‘chewing the rag’? 1916 Punch 23 Aug. 144/3, I got me woes..An' she's got 'ers, the good Lord knows, Although she never chews the fat. 1916 ‘Taffrail’ Pincher Martin viii. 134 D'you think I'm standin' up 'ere 'longside a blackboard chewin' my fat for the good o' my 'ealth, or wot? Ibid., Chewing the fat, spinning a yarn. 1919 War Slang in Athenæum 8 Aug. 727/2 If anyone starts fault-finding or ‘chewing the fat’ he is immediately ‘ticked off’. 1928 Daily Express 2 Mar. 5/2 We ‘chew the rag’, as our husbands would call it, over happenings of weeks and even months ago. 1931 R. Campbell Georgiad i. 17 The scavengers of letters Convene to chew the fat about their betters. 1946 Wodehouse Money in Bank xii. 102 We were at J. Sheringham Adair's office, chewing the fat with J. Sheringham Adair. 1948 ‘J. Tey’ Franchise Affair xi. 117 We had that paper in the pantry last Friday and chewed the rag over it for hours! |
4. to chew the cud: a. of certain quadrupeds, to bring back into the mouth and masticate the food which has been coarsely bruised and swallowed into a first stomach; to ruminate.
In OE. the simple céowan is so used; the Ayenb. has eftchyewe.
| c 1000 ælfric Lev. xi. 3 Ðæt hiᵹ eton þa nytenu þe hira clawe todælede beoþ and ceowaþ. Ne ete ᵹe þa þing þe ceowaþ, and clawe ne todælaþ. c 1200 Ormin 1236 Oxe chewweþþ..Hiss cude. a 1300 Cursor M. 1958 O beist has clouen fote in tua An chewand cude, ȝee ete o þaa. 1340 Ayenb. 86 Efterward me ssel þesne mete eft chyewe ase þe oxe þet gers þet he heþ vorzuelȝe. 1382 Wyclif Lev. xi. 3 Alle that han the clee dyuydid, and chewith kude. 1664 Power Exp. Philos. i. 16 Like so many Ginny-Pigs, munching and chewing the cud. 1834 M. Scott Cruise Midge (1859) 295 The cattle..stood listlessly chewing their cuds. |
b. fig. To ‘ruminate’.
| 1382 Wyclif Hosea vii. 14 Thei chewiden cud vpon whete, and wyne, and departiden fro me. 1547 Homilies i. Exhort. Holy Script. ii. (1859) 15 Let vs ruminate, and (as it were) chewe the cudde that wee maye haue the sweete iewse..& consolation of them. 1749 Fielding Tom Jones xviii. iii, Having left her a little while to chew the cud, if I may use that expression, on these first tidings. 1768 Smollett Humph. Cl. let. 15 July, To chew the cud of reflection. 1829 Southey O. Newman vii, And in all outward patience chew the while The cud of bitter thoughts. 1876 Maxwell in Life xiv. 1880 R. Broughton Sec. Th. I. i. xii. 196 She is dismally chewing the cud of sour reflection. |
5. † a. To worry with reproaches, etc.; ‘to jaw’ (Cockayne). Obs. rare.
| c 1230 Hali Meid. 31 Chit te & cheoweð þe & schent te schomeliche. |
b. With out. To reprimand. colloq. (chiefly U.S.).
| 1948 J. B. Roulier in N.Y. Folk Q. IV. i. 18 A verbal admonishing from a superior would be recorded by the victim with ‘I just got eaten out’ or ‘I just got chewed out’. 1963 H. Garner in R. Weaver Canadian Short Stories 2nd Ser. (1968) 48 Walters chewed him out for not knowing that the specifications had been changed. 1967 R. J. Serling President's Plane is Missing (1968) ii. 20 When Gunther Damon chewed out an errant staffer, his five feet eight seemed to swell to six feet. |
6. intr. To perform the action described in 1, 2; to exercise the jaws and teeth (on, upon anything); to bite, champ.
| 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. xvi. 46 Ac of þese metes þis maister myghte not wel chewe. 1578 Lyte Dodoens ii. ci. 287 The same chewen upon maketh one to avoyde much flegme. 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, ii. ii. 26 The veriest Varlet that euer chewed with a Tooth. 1608 Yorksh. Trag. i. ii. 199 That mortgage sits like a snaffle upon mine inheritance and makes me chew upon iron. 1856 Kane Arct. Expl. II. xxix. 288 The cartilaginous parts of the fore-flippers were passed round to be chewed upon. |
7. fig. To exercise the mind, meditate, ruminate upon, on, occas. at. Also with over; esp. to discuss, talk over (a matter).
| 1580 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 351, I haue more desire to chew vpon melancholy, then to dispute vpon Magicke. 1601 Shakes. Jul. C. i. ii. 171. 1649 Selden Laws Eng. ii. viii. (1739) 49, I shall only leave the Reader to chew upon the point. 1732 Pope Ep. Cobham 244 Old Politicians chew on Wisdom past And blunder on in Bus'ness to the last. 1823 Lamb Elia Ser. ii. vi. (1865) 271 To chew upon his new-blown dignities. 1883 Mark Twain Mississippi liii, When you come to..chew at it and think it over. 1939 R. Chandler Big Sleep xxv. 149 Drop up and chew it over. 1952 ‘M. Innes’ Private View ii. 37 Must you people really go on chewing over Gavin? 1952 S. Kauffmann Philanderer (1953) xv. 247, I certainly don't want to chew the matter over tonight. 1960 L. Cooper Accomplices i. vi. 62, I chewed it over for a bit and came to the conclusion that I'd better speak to John Pollard. |
8. to chew up: to demolish. Cf. chaw v. 3.
| 1837–40 Haliburton Clockm. (1862) 391, I felt as if I could chew him right up. |
▪ II. chew, n.
(tʃ(j)uː)
[f. prec. vb. The 12th c. icheu may go back to an OE. *ᵹeceow.]
1. The action of the verb chew.
| c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 35 Ofte mid wurmene icheu. Ibid. 123 Hwile wurmene cheu and fele oðre þe ich telle ne mai. 1878 L. P. Meredith Teeth 217 After every smoke or chew, brush the teeth thoroughly. |
† 2. ? ‘Jawing’, reproach. Obs.
| c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 13 Chest and chew and twifold speche and ilch fliting of worde. |
3. That which is chewed or for chewing; spec. a quid (of tobacco). Also, a sweetmeat, esp. a ‘chewy’ one.
| 1725 Lond. Gaz. No. 6387/2 Commonly has a Chew of Tobacco in his under Lip. 1748 Smollett Rod. Rand. xxxii, One of the sailors..put a large chew of tobacco in his mouth. 1887 M. Roberts West. Avernus xx, The floors..covered with saliva, old chews, and tobacco ash. 1936 Morrow & Hemminger Western Cook Bk. 40 (heading) Chinese Chews. 1950 B. Sutton-Smith Our Street iv. 48 He would spend it on biscuits and chews. 1959 I. & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolch. ix. 166 Sweets are..‘chews’ in Aberystwyth. 1967 L. Deighton London Dossier 158 Chewable trifles such as wine-gums..and nougat-based chews on sticks. |