chaw

chaw  (chô) Nonstandard

intr. & tr.v. chawed, chaw·ing, chaws

To chew.

n.

A chew, especially of tobacco.

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[Variant of chew.]

Regional Note: Chaw has a wide range of senses in regional expressions. One Northern and Western meaning of the verb is "to bawl someone out": He chawed her good. A Southern sense is "to get the best of someone in a bantering contest" or simply "to embarrass": "That compliment sort of chawed me" (Publication of the American Dialect Society). The noun chaw can mean "a twist of chewing tobacco" or "an attachment or hold (on someone)"; for example, a flirtatious woman in Tennessee is "tryin' to git a chaw on a feller" (Dialect Notes).

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	chaw - a wad of something chewable as tobacco chew, cud, plug, quid, wad bite, morsel, bit - a small amount of solid food; a mouthful; "all they had left was a bit of bread"
Verb	1.	chaw - chew without swallowing; "chaw tobacco" chew, manducate, masticate, jaw - chew (food); to bite and grind with the teeth; "He jawed his bubble gum"; "Chew your food and don't swallow it!"; "The cows were masticating the grass"