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Chew vs Peck - What's the difference?

chew | peck |

As a verb 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 noun chew

is a small sweet, such as a taffy, that is eaten by chewing.

As a proper noun peck is

.

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

    peck

    English

    (wikipedia peck)

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) pecken, pekken, variant of (etyl) picken, . More at pick.

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To strike or pierce with the beak or bill (of a bird) or similar instrument.
    • The birds pecked at their food.
  • * 1922 , (Virginia Woolf), (w, Jacob's Room) , Chapter 2
    • The rooster had been known to fly on her shoulder and peck her neck, so that now she carried a stick or took one of the children with her when she went to feed the fowls.
  • To form by striking with the beak or a pointed instrument.
    • to peck a hole in a tree
  • To strike, pick, thrust against, or dig into, with a pointed instrument, especially with repeated quick movements.
  • To seize and pick up with the beak, or as if with the beak; to bite; to eat; often with up .
    • (Addison)
  • * Shakespeare
    • This fellow pecks up wit as pigeons peas.
  • To do something in small, intermittent pieces.
    • He has been pecking away at that project for some time now.
  • To type by searching for each key individually.
  • (rare) To type in general.
  • To kiss briefly.
  • * 1997 , , (w, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone) , Chapter 1; 1998 ed., Scholastic Press, ISBN 0-590-35340-3, p. 2
    • At half past eight, Mr. Dursley picked up his briefcase, pecked Mrs. Dursley on the cheek, and tried to kiss Dudley good-bye but missed, because Dudley was now having a tantrum and throwing his cereal at the walls.
    Derived terms
    * pecking order * peckish * woodpecker

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An act of pecking.
  • A small kiss.

    • Etymology 2

    Probably from (etyl) (pek), (pekke), of uncertain origin.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • One quarter of a bushel; a dry measure of eight quarts.
    • They picked a peck of wheat.
  • A great deal; a large or excessive quantity.
    • She figured most children probably ate a peck of dirt before they turned ten.
  • * Milton
    • a peck of uncertainties and doubts

    Etymology 3

    Variant of .

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (regional) To throw.
  • To lurch forward; especially, of a horse, to stumble after hitting the ground with the toe instead of teh flat of the foot.
  • * 1928 , (Siegfried Sassoon), Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man , Penguin 2013, p. 97:
    • Anyhow, one of them fell, another one pecked badly, and Jerry disengaged himself from the group to scuttle up the short strip of meadow to win by a length.

    Etymology 4

    Noun

    (-)
  • Discoloration caused by fungus growth or insects.
    • an occurrence of peck in rice
    Derived terms
    * pecky

    Etymology 5

    Noun

    (en noun)
    • English transitive verbs