Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
garlic chewer

garlic chewer

7.8
A person who often eats garlic and has bad breath
  • noun
  • /ˈɡɑrlɪk ˈtʃuːər/
translation icon : comedores de ajo
  • People could always smell when the garlic chewer had entered the room.

Examples

  • As a proud garlic chewer, he never worried about having bland meals.

  • Her friends joked that being a garlic chewer kept the vampires away.

  • He is a garlic chewer who loves Italian food.

  • Many garlic chewers enjoy the health benefits of garlic.

  • As a dedicated garlic chewer, she always added extra cloves to her cooking.

  • People often notice a garlic chewer because of their fragrant breath.

  • Being a garlic chewer means he has to carry mints for social occasions.

Surface Forms

garlic chewer singular
garlic chewers plural

Morphology

garlic + chewer

The compound is directly compositional: 'garlic' (the food) + 'chewer' (someone who chews) yields someone who chews or eats garlic. The additional pragmatic inference about strong breath is a predictable consequence rather than an idiomatic shift, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will understand the meaning.

Etymology

The compound garlic chewer comes from the clear picture of a chewer biting garlic, leaving a very strong smell on the breath. That's why it means 'a person who often eats garlic and has strong breath'.