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Bite vs Chew - What's the difference?

bite | chew | Synonyms |

Chew is a synonym of bite.



As verbs the difference between bite and chew

is that bite is to cut off a piece by clamping the teeth while chew is 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.

As nouns the difference between bite and chew

is that bite is the act of biting while chew is a small sweet, such as a taffy, that is eaten by chewing.

bite

English

Verb

  • To cut off a piece by clamping the teeth.
  • As soon as you bite that sandwich, you'll know how good it is.
  • To hold something by clamping one's teeth.
  • To attack with the teeth.
  • That dog is about to bite !
  • To behave aggressively; to reject advances.
  • If you see me, come and say hello. I don't bite .
  • To take hold; to establish firm contact with.
  • I needed snow chains to make the tires bite .
  • To have significant effect, often negative.
  • For homeowners with adjustable rate mortgages, rising interest will really bite .
  • (of a fish) To bite a baited hook or other lure and thus be caught.
  • Are the fish biting today?
  • (metaphor) To accept something offered, often secretly or deceptively, to cause some action by the acceptor.
  • I've planted the story. Do you think they'll bite ?
  • (intransitive, transitive, of an insect) To sting.
  • These mosquitoes are really biting today!
  • To cause a smarting sensation; to have a property which causes such a sensation; to be pungent.
  • It bites like pepper or mustard.
  • To cause sharp pain, or smarting, to; to hurt or injure, in a literal or a figurative sense.
  • Pepper bites the mouth.
  • * Shakespeare
  • Frosts do bite the meads.
  • To cause sharp pain; to produce anguish; to hurt or injure; to have the property of so doing.
  • * Bible, Proverbs xxiii. 32
  • At the last it [wine] biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.
  • To take or keep a firm hold.
  • The anchor bites .
  • To take hold of; to hold fast; to adhere to.
  • The anchor bites the ground.
  • * Charles Dickens
  • The last screw of the rack having been turned so often that its purchase crumbled, it turned and turned with nothing to bite .
  • (slang) To lack quality; to be worthy of derision; to suck.
  • This music really bites .
  • (transitive, informal, vulgar) To perform oral sex on. (Used in invective).
  • You don't like that I sat on your car? Bite me.
  • (intransitive, AAVE, slang) To plagiarize, to imitate.
  • He always be biting my moves.

    Derived terms

    * bite back * bite in the ass * bite me * bite off * bite off more than one can chew * bite one's knuckle * bite one's tongue * biter * bite someone's head off * bite the big one * bite the bullet * bite the dust * bite the hand that feeds one * biting

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The act of .
  • * Walton
  • I have known a very good fisher angle diligently four or six hours for a river carp, and not have a bite .
  • The wound left behind after having been bitten.
  • That snake bite really hurts!
  • The swelling of one's skin caused by an insect's mouthparts or sting.
  • After just one night in the jungle I was covered with mosquito bites .
  • A piece of food of a size that would be produced by ; a mouthful.
  • There were only a few bites left on the plate.
  • (slang) Something unpleasant.
  • That's really a bite !
  • (slang) An act of plagiarism.
  • That song is a bite of my song!
  • A small meal or snack.
  • I'll have a quick bite to quiet my stomach until dinner.
  • (figuratively) aggression
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011
  • , date=March 2 , author=Saj Chowdhury , title=Man City 3 - 0 Aston Villa , work=BBC citation , page= , passage=City scored the goals but periods of ball possession were shared - the difference being Villa lacked bite in the opposition final third.}}
  • The hold which the short end of a lever has upon the thing to be lifted, or the hold which one part of a machine has upon another.
  • (colloquial, dated) A cheat; a trick; a fraud.
  • * Humorist
  • The baser methods of getting money by fraud and bite , by deceiving and overreaching.
  • (colloquial, dated, slang) A sharper; one who cheats.
  • (Johnson)
  • (printing) A blank on the edge or corner of a page, owing to a portion of the frisket, or something else, intervening between the type and paper.
  • (Webster 1913)

    Synonyms

    * (act of biting) * (wound left behind after having been bitten) * (sense, swelling caused by an insect's mouthparts or sting) sting * (piece of food of a size that would be produced by biting) mouthful * * * (small meal or snack) snack *

    Derived terms

    * bitemark * bite-sized * bite stick * crossbite * in one bite * overbite * snake-bite, snakebite * underbite

    chew

    English

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • 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!
    The steak was tough to chew as it had been cooked too long.
  • To grind, tear, or otherwise degrade or demolish something with teeth or as with teeth.
  • He keep his feed in steel drums to prevent the mice from chewing holes in the feed-sacks.
    The harsh desert wind and sand had chewed the stump into ragged strips of wood.
  • (informal) To 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.
  • * Alexander Pope
  • Old politicians chew wisdom past.
  • * Prior
  • He chews revenge, abjuring his offense.

    Synonyms

    * (crush food with teeth prior to swallowing) bite, chavel, chomp, crunch, masticate * (degrade or demolish as if with teeth) grind, pulverize, rip, shred, tear * (think about) contemplate, ruminate, mull, muse, ponder * See also

    Derived terms

    * chewing gum * chew out * chew over * chew the cud * chew the fat * chew the scenery * chew up * chewy

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A small sweet, such as a taffy, that is eaten by chewing.
  • Phillip purchased a bag of licorice chews at the drugstore.
  • (informal, uncountable) Chewing tobacco.
  • The school had banned chew and smokes from the school grounds, even for adults.
  • (countable, or, uncountable) A plug or wad of chewing tobacco; chaw or a chaw.
  • ''The ballplayers sat on the bench watching the rain, glumly working their chews .
    The first time he chewed tobacco, he swallowed his chew and got extremely sick.

    Derived terms

    * chew toy * penny chew