# cashew vs chew

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### cashew
*noun · IPA /ˈkæʃuː/ · frequency rank #39,236*
A tree, Anacardium occidentale, native to northeastern Brazil, now widely grown in tropical climates for its cashew nuts and cashew apples.

### chew
*verb · IPA /tʃuː/ · frequency rank #11,850*
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.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cashew-vs-chew