Soften vs Chew - What's the difference?
soften | chew |
To make something soft or softer.
To undermine the morale of someone (often soften up ).
To make less harsh
* '>citation
To become soft or softer
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 verbs the difference between soften and chew
is that soften is to make something soft or softer 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 noun chew is
a small sweet, such as a taffy, that is eaten by chewing.soften
English
Verb
(en verb)- Soften the butter before beating in the sugar.
- Before the invasion, we softened up the enemy with the artillery.
- Having second thoughts, I softened my criticism.
- The butter softened as it warmed up.
See also
* mollify * neshen English ergative verbs English intransitive verbs English transitive verbschew
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.
