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Glite Dictionary
🦴 To destroy 📱 To use up 😡 To scold harshly
to chew up

to chew up

2 4.6
To use up resources like time or data very quickly
  • phrasal verb
  • /tʃu ʌp/
translation icon : consumir
  • These advertisements chew up data quickly, so I need to be careful while browsing.
  • chew up time
  • chews up a lot
  • chew up more

How much does it eat chew up on on jobs?

Examples

  • But even with this small tax cut, the upcoming penalties associated with the new health care insurance laws are going to chew up any savings on taxes regardless.

    Blog text (27)

  • It chews up quite a bit of petrol.

    Blog text (27)

  • Starting a business was, you know, really hard for me, really demanding, really kind of chewed up my soul.

  • Resistance heat chews up a lot of electricity, but I'm sure something will get figured out.

    Blog text (28)

  • You have to charge more on your lending rate since some of it gets chewed up in the intermediation process.

  • Except that it and the motherboard that you'll need to install it on are going to chew up a lot of your budget.

  • Like Eric Weidner said in his comments above, going the extra mile to ensure redirects are in place, plus all the other hundreds of additional components, all chew up time.

    Blog text (27)

  • Blake Sims came on for McCarron and guided the offense with the express purpose of chewing up the clock.

    Blog text (26)

  • The new software updates are chewing up a lot of memory on my computer.

  • The construction project has been chewing up both time and resources, leading to unexpected delays.

Synonyms

to eat
vsto chew up
564 6.6

Gradually use up money or fuel

is faster and more wasteful and often causes delays or problems
to use up
vsto chew up
69 2.7

To finish all of something so nothing is left

happens quickly and wastefully and often causes delays or problems
to eat up
vsto chew up
  • Informal
23 3.1

Use up money or time quickly

creates waste and often causes delays or problems
to gobble up
vsto chew up
  • Informal
19 3.0

To eat something quickly and eagerly

refers to rapid wasteful use of resources that often causes delays or problems

Antonyms

to save
∞ 1.0

Keep something for use later

to conserve
63 3.4

Protect something from harm or waste by using it carefully

How Much

to exhaust
68 3.7
to chew up
2 4.6
drain
55 4.3
to use
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

chew up infinitive
chewed up past
chewed up past participle
chewing up present participle
chews up third person singular

Morphology

chew + up

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 (meaning 'to use up or consume a resource quickly') comes from the image of eating something fast so it is gone. That's why we say a program or task can 'chew up' your time, data, or memory.