chewed

1. 1
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of chew.

   He chewed thoughtfully on a blade of grass while he waited.

   The puppy had chewed through two pairs of shoes by noon.

   Note

   A regular past form, so one spelling does two jobs: the simple past (she chewed her lip) and the participle after have or in the passive (the cable had been chewed). It carries every meaning of chew, including the informal figurative one of mulling something over, as in an idea chewed over for a week. Chewed through leans toward the destructive sense of tearing something apart with the teeth.

2. 2
   adjective

   Worked over and broken down between the teeth; masticated.

   The vet pulled a chewed piece of plastic from the dog's throat.

   He scraped the chewed remnants of a pencil off the table.

   Similargnawed

   Note

   A participle turned adjective, used before a noun for what teeth have already worked on: a chewed pencil, a chewed piece of plastic. It compares with more and most (the most chewed of the toys) rather than taking -er. Telling it apart from the past-tense verb is a matter of position. Before a noun or after seem, it is the adjective. After have, it is the verb.

Showing meanings only. Show all 2