Organism Function
masticate
mas·ti·cate [ mas-ti-keyt ]
Subclass of:
Eating
Definitions related to chewing:
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(mastication) Act and process of chewing and grinding food in the mouth.CRISP ThesaurusNational Institutes of Health, 2006
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(mastication) The act and process of chewing and grinding food in the mouth.NLM Medical Subject HeadingsU.S. National Library of Medicine, 2021
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(mastication) The process by which food is torn or crushed by the teeth.NCI ThesaurusU.S. National Cancer Institute, 2021
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(mastication) The process of biting and mashing food with the teeth prior to swallowing.Gene Ontology DictionaryGene Ontology Consortium, 2021
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Chewing, up-and-down and side-to-side movements of the lower jaw that assist in reducing particles of solid food, making them more easily swallowed; teeth usually act as the grinding and biting surface. In cats and dogs, food is reduced only to a size that permits easy swallowing. Cows and other...Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 2020
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