CHEW means to bite and grind with the teeth, typically to break down food before swallowing. In word games, it's a versatile 4-letter word with valuable letters.
Yes. CHEW is in the Scrabble-style word list used by our tools and scores 12 points in Scrabble, 12 in Words With Friends and 13 in Wordfeud (base tile values, no board multipliers). Always check the dictionary your game uses (NWL, Collins or the WWF list) before playing.
| Letter | C | H | E | W | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scrabble | 3 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 12 |
| Words With Friends | 4 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 12 |
| Wordfeud | 4 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 13 |
CHEW is the act of crushing or grinding food with the teeth to prepare it for swallowing and digestion. It's one of the most fundamental human actions, essential for proper nutrition and enjoyment of food.
In word games, CHEW packs significant value into just 4 letters. The 'C' (3 points), 'H' (4 points), and 'W' (4 points) are all premium tiles, making this word worth 12 base points in Scrabble - excellent for a short word.
Strategic players love CHEW because it's easy to remember, uses common letters that often appear together, and can be extended with prefixes (ESCHEW) or suffixes (CHEWED, CHEWER, CHEWING, CHEWY) for bonus plays.
CHEW derives from the Old English "ceowan," which has Germanic roots related to the Old High German "kiuwan" and Dutch "kauwen." The word has remained remarkably stable in form and meaning for over 1,000 years, always referring to the action of masticating food.
Anagrams: no other word uses exactly the letters of CHEW.
Hooks: no front hooks; back CHEWS, CHEWY.
Words inside CHEW: 4 shorter words can be made from these letters – highest scoring: HEWEHHEWE. See all words from CHEW.