Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - chew

(chews, chewing, chewed) 1. When you chew food, you use your teeth to break it up in your mouth so that it becomes easier to swallow. Be certain to eat slowly and chew your food extremely well... Daniel leaned back on the sofa, still chewing on his apple. ...the sound of his mother chewing and swallowing. VERB: V n, V at/on n, V 2. If you chew gum or tobacco, you keep biting it and moving it around your mouth to taste the flavour of it. You do not swallow it. One girl was chewing gum... VERB: V n 3. If you chew your lips or your fingernails, you keep biting them because you are nervous. He chewed his lower lip nervously. VERB: V n 4. If a person or animal chews an object, they bite it with their teeth. They pause and chew their pencils... One owner left his pet under the stairs where the animal chewed through electric cables. = bite VERB: V n, V prep 5. If you say that someone has bitten off more than they can chew, you mean that they are trying to do something which is too difficult for them. Micky is used to handling dodgy deals but this time fears he may have bitten off more than he can chew. PHRASE: bite inflects 6. to chew the cud: see cud