chew up
1. To masticate food. A noun or pronoun can be used between "chew" and "up." This meat is a little tough—I'm having a hard time chewing it up. No, the baby still doesn't have enough teeth to chew up solid foods, so she gets puréed fruits and veggies. It'll take me forever to chew this up if I don't put my dentures in.
2. To cause injury or destruction, as by a sharp or powerful object or machine. A noun or pronoun can be used between "chew" and "up." Be careful handling that food processor—the blades are sharp enough to chew up your hands. Once you turn on the blender, it'll chew up those strawberries in seconds. Get away from that machine! It can chew up car parts in seconds, so what do you think it would do to you, huh?
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
chew someone or something up
to damage or ruin someone or something by pinching, grinding, biting, etc. Stay away from the mower blade or it will chew you up. The lawn mower chewed up the flowers.
chew something up
to grind food with the teeth until it can be swallowed. You had better chew that stuff up well. Please chew up your food well.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.