chaw

Meanings

1. That which is chewed.
2. Chewing tobacco.

1. To chew; grind with one's teeth; to masticate (food, or the cud).
2. To ruminate (about) in thought; to ponder; to consider.
3. To steal.
4. To be sulky.

1. The jaw.

1. Obsolete form of cha (“tea”).

Etymology

An unexplained variation of chewen (“to chew”). First attested in the sixteenth century. See chew for more. Cognate with Middle Dutch cauwen ("to chew"; whence Dutch kauwen), obsolete Dutch kauw (“the act of chewing, that which is chewed, chewed mass, wad of tobacco”), Middle Low German kauwen, kauen (“to chew”). Compare also Old English ġecow (“that which is chewed, food”) and *ġeċēaw (“chewing”), whence Middle English icheu (“gnawing, biting”).