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Glite Dictionary
🦷 To chew 🔧 To soften material
to masticate

to masticate

2 7.9
To chew food by biting and grinding it with the teeth
  • verb
  • /ˈmæstɪˌkeɪt/
translation icon : masticar
  • As I stood there masticating my boniato relleno de tasajo, a cab pulled up, and the driver came in, looked at the starchy white spheres on the counter, clearly labeled as fufu, and asked, "What is that?"
  • masticated and digested

Examples

  • Though the food may be masticated and flow through the digestive tract, it never really enters into the body except for the nutrients.

    Blog text (13)

  • I HAD MY CAKE, LOVED IT, MASTICATED IT, CHEWED IT.

    Grey Gardens (2009)

  • So they could masticate it and spit it on the floor.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • Do you masticate, Mr. Lightbody?

    The Road to Wellville (1994)

  • Two months earlier, she had begun to experience dysarthria and difficulty masticating.

    Academic text (2006)

  • So they brought me a slice of cold watermelon, and I drowsily masticated it.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • In the middle of an intimate dinner, he found himself staring across the table at masticating teeth, tufts of hair on the knuckles of a hand, and though he was glad his companions were mammals, these features were vividly physical without being the least erotic.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • She needs to masticate her food thoroughly to aid digestion.

  • It is important to masticate each bite well before swallowing.

  • The doctor advised him to masticate his meals slowly for better health.

Synonyms

to eat
vsto masticate
∞ 1.0

Put food or drink into your mouth, chew it and swallow it

focuses specifically on deliberate and thorough chewing rather than general consumption
to chew
vsto masticate
457 1.0

To bite and grind food with your teeth to make it soft enough to swallow

focuses more on careful and thorough chewing rather than just swallowing
to munch
vsto masticate
43 2.6

To chew food noisily, often making a crunching sound

emphasizes deliberate and thorough chewing rather than noisy grinding
to chomp
vsto masticate
31 4.0

To bite or chew food loudly with big jaw movements

is gentler and more deliberate rather than loud and forceful
to munch on
vsto masticate
  • Informal
14 2.9

To eat something while chewing loudly and enjoying it

is more about careful and deliberate chewing rather than noisy enjoyment
to manducate
vsto masticate
  • Formal
9.9

To chew food with the teeth

is common in general use and stresses deliberate thorough chewing

How Vigorous

to chomp
31 4.0
to gnaw
30 3.2
to masticate
2 7.9
to chew
457 1.0
to nibble
56 2.0

Surface Forms

masticate infinitive
masticated past
masticated past participle
masticating present participle
masticates third person singular

Morphology

masticate = mastic (opaque) = mastic + ate

The verb derives from a rare/archaic noun 'mastic' (a resin historically chewed), so learners cannot infer 'chew' from the parts without historical knowledge.

Etymology

Masticate comes from the Latin masticare, which means 'to chew'. So, masticate is a formal word for 'chew', and to masticate food is to bite and grind it with your teeth.