— chewer , n.
/chooh/ , v.t.
1. to crush or grind with the teeth; masticate.
2. to crush, damage, injure, etc., as if by chewing (often fol. 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 fol. by over ): He chewed the problem over in his mind.
v.i.
5. to perform the act of crushing or grinding with the teeth.
6. Informal. to chew tobacco.
7. to meditate.
8. chew out , Slang. to scold harshly: The sergeant chewed out the recruits.
9. 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 .
n.
10. an act or instance of chewing.
11. something chewed or intended for chewing: a chew of tobacco; taffy chews.
[ bef. 1000; ME chewen, OE ceowan; c. OHG kiuwan (G kauen ) ]