masticate

English

WOTD – 4 May 2006

Etymology

From Latin masticātus, perfect passive participle of masticō (“to chew”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix). Alternatively, back-formation from mastication, either ultimately from Ancient Greek μαστιχάω (mastikháō, “to grind the teeth”). Compare French mastiquer.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmæstɪkeɪt/

• Audio (US):

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• Audio (General Australian):

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Verb

masticate (third-person singular simple present masticates, present participle masticating, simple past and past participle masticated)

1. (transitive) To chew (usually food).

   The cow stood, quietly masticating its cud.

   • 1832, Charles Dickens, chapter 4, in The Pickwick Papers:

     The fat boy rose, opened his eyes, swallowed the huge piece of pie he had been in the act of masticating when he last fell asleep, and slowly obeyed his master’s orders.

   • 1892, Herman Melville, chapter 12, in Typee: A Romance of the South Seas:

     "By tasting it, to be sure," said I, masticating a morsel that Kory-Kory had just put in my mouth.

   • 1896, H. G. Wells, chapter 8, in The Island of Dr. Moreau:

     He resumed his meal. "I had no idea of it," he said, and masticated.

   • 1927-1929, Mahatma Gandhi, translated by Mahadev Desai, An Autobiography or The Story of my Experiments with Truth, published 1940:

     The vegetables were not to be cooked but merely grated fine, if I could not masticate them.

   • 2001, Nadine Gordimer, The Pickup:

     The friends watch the two make their way between other habitués masticating, drinking, crouched in a scrum of conversation […]

   • 2024 September 28, Harry Blank, “Not Ready for Prime Time”, in Deadlined, →ISBN, page 604:

     At the moment Carter snapped, a lunch break in J&M turned into a blood riot when half a dozen technicians dropped their snacks and began cannibalizing each other instead. In I&T, their opposite numbers began beating each other to death with keyboards, chairs, and even computer monitors while their Chief masticated her husband's digits.

2. (transitive) To grind or knead something into a pulp.

Derived terms

• masticable
• masticator
• nonmasticating
• premasticate
• remasticate
• unmasticated

Related terms

• mastic
• mastication
• masticatory

Translations

chew — see chew

to knead

• Bavarian: dabaazn
• Finnish: jauhaa (fi), soseuttaa (fi)
• Icelandic: (crush into a mush) kremja í mauk, hnoða í mauk
• Maori: kōrapu
• Russian: месить (ru) (mesitʹ)
• Swedish: knåda (sv)

Anagrams

• catamites

Interlingua

Participle

masticate

1. past participle of masticar

Italian

Etymology 1

Verb

masticate

1. second-person plural present indicative of masticare

Etymology 2

Participle

masticate f pl

1. feminine plural of masticato

Anagrams

• mesticata

Latin

Verb

masticāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of masticō

Spanish

Verb

masticate

1. second-person singular voseo imperative of masticar combined with te