chew up
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
to use or waste something, especially time or resources
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Sử dụng hoặc lãng phí một thứ, đặc biệt là thời gian hoặc tài nguyên
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: to bite and grind with teeth
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
The project chewed up all our budget.
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “chew up” mean?
to use or waste something, especially time or resources Literally: to bite and grind with teeth
Is “chew up” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.