MASTICATION

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does mastication mean? 

• MASTICATION (noun)
  The noun MASTICATION has 1 sense:

1. biting and grinding food in your mouth so it becomes soft enough to swallow

  Familiarity information: MASTICATION used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MASTICATION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Biting and grinding food in your mouth so it becomes soft enough to swallow

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

chew; chewing; manduction; mastication

Hypernyms ("mastication" is a kind of...):

change of state (the act of changing something into something different in essential characteristics)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "mastication"):

chomping (the act of chewing noisily)

gumming; mumbling (ineffectual chewing (as if without teeth))

rumination ((of ruminants) chewing (the cud))

Holonyms ("mastication" is a part of...):

eating; feeding (the act of consuming food)

Derivation:

masticate (chew (food); to bite and grind with the teeth)

 Context examples 

Pain or discomfort with mastication, a symptom of underlying disease.

(Chewing Difficulty, NCI Thesaurus)

The mouth, teeth, jaws, pharynx, and related structures as they relate to mastication, deglutition, and speech.

(Murine Stomatognathic System, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

A quadrilateral muscle extending from the lateral pterygoid plate to the medial surface of the mandible that closes the jaw and aids in mastication.

(Internal Pterygoid Muscle, NCI Thesaurus)