chew up

phrasal verb

chewed up; chewing up; chews up

1

: to destroy (something) by chewing it

My new puppy chewed up my shoes.

2

informal : to destroy or defeat (someone or something)

The truck chewed up the grass.

They chewed the competition up.

Examples of chew up in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

When the plastic balls that came with the set got lost or chewed up by the dog, Owen didn’t slow down, instead taking aim at the pine cones in his backyard. —Rachel Roberts, Idaho Statesman, 26 Jan. 2026

This could potentially chew up a lot of time during the opening therapy session. —Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 22 Jan. 2026

Trouba’s offense from the back end has been unexpected, given that his primary role these days is to be a sturdy defender and chew up five-on-five and penalty kill minutes. —Eric Stephens, New York Times, 8 Jan. 2026

Pests are happy to chew up these papers and constant exposure to heat and humidity will discolor and damage them. —Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 2 Jan. 2026

Rhymes for chew up

• backup
• blowup
• breakup
• buildup
• checkup
• cleanup
• holdup
• hookup
• lineup
• lockup
• makeup
• markup