Chawing

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To chew or bite with a repeated motion; to eat something in a vigorous and often noisy manner; to masticate thoroughly, especially in relation to food consumption
2. Engaging in the act of grinding food with teeth, typically indicating enjoyment; performing a rhythmic action of chewing, often producing sound; to process food in the mouth via repeated motion
3. The habitual act of crushing food into smaller pieces using teeth; a vigorous method of eating characterized by noise; the repetitive action of masticating or chewing food thoroughly

Etymology: Chawing is the present participle of "chaw," a verb that appeared in the sixteenth century as a variant of "chew," and its ancestry is less tidy than the chewing it describes. Its exact origin is unexplained, but it likely grew out of a different word for the jaw. Early Modern English "chawe" may have come from Middle English forms such as "chaul," "chavel," and "jawle," all meaning jaw, with the final -l dropped. The same family of jaw words gave English "jowl," so the verb may have started as an action performed by the jaws themselves. Its relatives on the Continent point the other way. Middle Dutch "cauwen" and Middle Low German "kauwen" both meant to chew, and Dutch "kauwen" carries the same sense today. Old English offered "ġecow," meaning food or that which is chewed, which hints at a deep, shared Germanic stock of chewing words.

Synonyms: chewing, munching, gnawing

Antonyms: swallowing, gulping