masticare — meaning in English

English meaning

• chew verb To repeatedly bite and grind food with the teeth before swallowing.
• crunch verb To crush something noisily, especially food, making a crackling sound.
• smatter verb To make (someone or something) dirty; to bespatter, to soil.

Senses

masticare is used for these senses in English:

• chew To crush with the teeth by repeated closing and opening of the jaws; done to food to soften it and break it down by the action of saliva before it is swallowed.
• crunch (slang) To calculate or otherwise process (e.g. to crunch numbers: to perform mathematical calculations). Presumably from the sound made by mechanical calculators.
• smatter (transitive) To speak (a language) with spotty or superficial knowledge.

chew — full definition

1. verb To repeatedly bite and grind food with the teeth before swallowing.
2. verb Informal: to think something over carefully.
3. noun A soft sweet, or a small toy or treat meant to be chewed.

crunch — full definition

1. verb To crush something noisily, especially food, making a crackling sound.
2. verb To process large amounts of data or numbers.
3. noun The crackling sound made when something is crushed or bitten into.
4. noun A critical or decisive moment, often involving pressure or difficulty.
5. noun In game or software development, a period of mandatory overtime before a deadline.

Related Italian words