Chow vs Chew - What's the difference?
chow | chew |
(slang, uncountable) Food, especially snacks.
A Chinese breed of dog; the .
* 1914 , (Saki), ‘The Lull’, Beasts and Superbeasts :
* {{quote-news, year=1988, date=March 4, author=Jane Weinberg, title=First Person: Me and Georgia O'Keeffe, work=Chicago Reader
, passage=While we were talking, one of the chows , the rusty one, had come over to me and I was absently petting him. }}
A Chinese person.
* 1977 , , The Honourable Schoolboy , Folio Society 2010, p. 11:
*:‘Now look here old man if you should ever bump into an interesting Chow from over the river – one with access , follow me? – just you remember High Haven!’
(Mahjong) To (use a tile or tiles to) piece together a winning combination of tiles.
* 2007 , Eleanor Noss Whitney, A Mah Jong Handbook: How to Play, Score, and Win , page 154:
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.
To grind, tear, or otherwise degrade or demolish something with teeth or as with teeth.
(informal) To think about something; to ponder; to chew over.
* Alexander Pope
* Prior
A small sweet, such as a taffy, that is eaten by chewing.
(informal, uncountable) Chewing tobacco.
(countable, or, uncountable) A plug or wad of chewing tobacco; chaw or a chaw.
As nouns the difference between chow and chew
is that chow is food, especially snacks while chew is a small sweet, such as a taffy, that is eaten by chewing.As verbs the difference between chow and chew
is that chow is to eat 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 a proper noun Chow
is a common Chinese surname.chow
English
Etymology 1
Shortened from (chow-chow).Noun
(en-noun)- I'm going to pick up some chow for dinner.
- ‘I'd try and grapple with him myself, only I've got my chow in my room, you know, and he goes for pigs wherever he finds them.’
citation
Derived terms
* chow downEtymology 2
From Chinese.Verb
(en verb)- while the adversary on his right will repeatedly bury in the discard the very tiles he wishes to chow but can't.
chew
English
Verb
(en verb)- 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.
- 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.
- The professor stood at the blackboard, chalk in hand, and chewed the question the student had asked.
- Old politicians chew wisdom past.
- 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 alsoDerived terms
* chewing gum * chew out * chew over * chew the cud * chew the fat * chew the scenery * chew up * chewyNoun
(en noun)- Phillip purchased a bag of licorice chews at the drugstore.
- The school had banned chew and smokes from the school grounds, even for adults.
- ''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.