chew
/tʃuː/verb, noun
chew is spelled C-H-E-W: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 4.6 times per million words in written English, the 11,870th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, chew means “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…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in chew?
| Letters | 4: C-H-E-W |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 4.6 times per million words; the 11,870th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is chew?
Chew appears 4.6 times per million words in written English, the 11,870th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce chew?
- UK /tʃuː/
- British /tʃʉw/
- Canada /tʃɪʊ̯/
Chew has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-chew.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with chew?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as chew from its last stressed vowel (/u/, British pronunciation):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of chew
- chews present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- chewing participle, present
- chewed past, participle
- chewn participle, past, rare
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does chew mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
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.
Make sure to chew thoroughly, and don't talk with your mouth full!
- 2
To grind, tear, or otherwise degrade or demolish something with teeth or as with teeth.
He keeps his feed in steel drums to prevent the mice from chewing holes in the feed-sacks.
- 3
informalThe condition of something being torn or ground up mechanically.
- 4
informalTo think about something; to ponder; to chew over.
The professor stood at the blackboard, chalk in hand, and chewed the question the student had asked.
- 5
To chew tobacco.
To reduce cancer risk, it is best that you neither chew nor smoke.
noun
- 1
The act of chewing; mastication with the mouth.
I popped the gum into my mouth and gave it a chew.
- 2
Level of chewiness.
- 3
A small sweet, such as a taffy, that is eaten by chewing.
Phillip purchased a bag of licorice chews at the drugstore.
- 4
informalChewing tobacco.
The school had banned chew and smokes from the school grounds, even for adults.
- 5
A plug or wad of chewing tobacco; chaw or a chaw.
The ballplayers sat on the bench watching the rain, glumly working their chews.
- 6
informalThe condition of something being torn or ground up mechanically.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Chew in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense to crush food with teeth prior to swallowing:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | mâcher, mordiller, mastiquer |
| German | kauen |
| Portuguese | mastigar, mascar |
| Spanish | masticar, mascar, gandir, chacchar, picchar (coca), picchear (coca) |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does chew come from?
From Middle English chewen, from Old English ċēowan, from Proto-West Germanic *keuwan, from Proto-Germanic *kewwaną, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵyewh₁-. Cognate with West Frisian kôgje, Low German käwwen, Dutch kauwen, German kauen; also Latin gingīva (“gums”), Tocharian B śuwaṃ (“to eat”), Polish żuć (“to chew”), Persian جویدن (javidan), Pashto ژُوَل (žovạl, “to bite, gnaw”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).