masticate

1. To chew (food).
2. To grind and knead (rubber, for example) into a pulp.

[Late Latin masticāre, masticāt-, to masticate, from Greek mastikhān, to grind the teeth.]

verb

To bite and grind with the teeth: champ, chew, chomp, chump², crump, crunch, munch. Regional chaw. See mouth.

1. to grind or crush food with the teeth to prepare it for swallowing and digestion. v 2. to chew.

The act of chewing. Abnormalities of this function commonly occur and often have diagnostic significance. Painful teeth may cause slow, intermittent or one-sided eating. Dropping of the food from the mouth during eating may have a similar cause. Periodic stopping eating for long periods when there is food in the mouth is a common sign in encephalitis and encephalopathy. See also cud dropping, quidding, tobacco-chewers.