Chew vs Thew - What's the difference?
chew | thew |
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.
Muscle or sinew.
* 1927 , , Arrow, 2008, page 247
* 1960 , , Low-Lands
A good quality or habit; virtue.
An attractive physical attribute, especially muscle; mental or moral vigour.
As verbs the difference between chew and thew
is that 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 while thew is (obsolete) to oppress; enslave or thew can be instruct in morals or values; chastise.As nouns the difference between chew and thew
is that chew is a small sweet, such as a taffy, that is eaten by chewing while thew is (lb) a bondman; a slave or thew can be muscle or sinew.As an adjective thew is
(lb) bond; servile.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.
Derived terms
* chew toy * penny chewthew
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) (m), (m), from (etyl) . See (l), (l).Etymology 2
From (etyl) thewen, from (etyl) .Etymology 3
From (etyl) thew, theaw (often in plural thewes), from (etyl) .Noun
(en noun)- As a rule, the Purple Chicken catered for the intelligentsia of the neighbourhood, and these did not run to thews and sinews. On most nights in the week you would find the tables occupied by wispy poets and slender futurist painters...
- Fortune’s elf child and disinherited darling, young and randy and more a Jolly Jack Tar than anyone human could conceivably be; thews and chin taut against a sixty-knot gale with a well-broken-in briar clenched in the bright defiant teeth