Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Of, relating to, or used in mastication.
  • adjective Adapted for chewing.
  • noun A medicinal substance chewed to increase salivation.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Relating or pertaining to mastication; used in or effected by chewing: as, the masticatory apparatus or process.
  • noun A substance chewed to excite the secretion of saliva.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Chewing; adapted to perform the office of chewing food.
  • noun (Med.) A substance to be chewed to increase the saliva.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Something chewed, originally as a medicine, now typically for pleasure or to increase the flow of saliva.
  • adjective Of, or relating to mastication.
  • adjective Used for chewing.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From the participle stem of Latin masticare.

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