Words / M / General

masticate

verb/ˈmæstɪkeɪt/

C1CEFR level
55/100Rarity: uncommon
FormalRegister

To chew food thoroughly before swallowing.

His grandmother reminded him to masticate each mouthful properly.

Similar: chew, grind, champ

Origin: From Late Latin 'masticare', to chew.

Topic: eating in General English

Rarity runs from 0 (a word everyone knows) to 100 (almost never seen outside specialist or literary writing). Level is the word's real difficulty on the CEFR scale, from A1 to C2.

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