to chew up
5
3.9
- phrasal verb
- /tʃu ʌp/
:
destrozar
- Father Carlton stood there with his hands in his pockets as the car backed out of its space and the tires chewed up the loose gravel of the church parking lot.
- chewed up the furniture
- dog chews up
- get chewed up
To its credit too, I think this GPU may have oh, that slot is chewed up?
- To its credit too, I think this GPU may have oh, that slot is chewed up?
- I need somebody that, you know, this sport will chew you up, man.
- And you, you, they till the soil, which in itself just chews up lots of rats.
- A lot of it may have been chewed up, burned up over the years, shredded.
- So we go on, and we see the nice were not the the first people chewed up, and it's maw just the latest and cruelest extermination of many.
Examples
-
My foot had been chewed up by my clutch like a wood chipper.
-
But then we look on the floor and we have a very chewed up piece of jigsaw.
-
And just recently my dog chewed up the end of it.
-
Is that your chewed up dinner inside that bag?
-
Then the new dog chewed up this entire report that I'd been working on.
-
The road, already chewed up by countless feet, disappeared into water ahead.
Fiction book (1992) -
This land chews up and spits out the weak.
Fiction book (1997) -
Do not let your dog hold on to the Frisbee, or it is liable to get chewed up quickly.
Blog text (7) -
Shark after shark came over the rail, a parade of demons that chewed up gear and time.
Fiction book (1999) -
My puppy loves to chew up shoes, leaving them in tatters all over the house.
Synonyms
401
1.6
To press something hard so it breaks or loses its shape
62
4.1
Cause serious harm to people or things with a sharp object
39
2.7
To rip something into small pieces
30
3.2
Bite or chew something again and again to make it smaller
8
2.8
To tear something into small pieces
8
7.6
Damage something badly, often by hitting or dropping it
5
4.7
To damage something very badly so it breaks into pieces
5
2.8
Completely swallow something like land or light
To divide something into parts, for example by cutting it or by sharing it among people
Antonyms
How Damaged
Surface Forms
Morphology
The literal verb 'chew' (to bite/grind) plus the particle 'up' (completion/consumption) yields a clear image of something being consumed or destroyed, so a learner who knows the parts can plausibly infer a meaning like 'use up' or 'damage'. However, its frequent metaphorical extension to abstract resources (time, data, memory) and occasional sense of causing problems is an extension that is not fully predictable without exposure, so it is only partially transparent.
Etymology
Chew up comes from the literal action of chew (biting) and up (into pieces); imagine a dog chewing your new shoes until they are ruined. That's why it now means 'to destroy or damage thoroughly'.