From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishmasticatemas‧ti‧cate /ˈmæstɪkeɪt/ verb [intransitive, transitive] formalHBHDF to chew food —mastication /ˌmæstɪˈkeɪʃən/ noun [uncountable]→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
masticate• Meanwhile, to ferment the brew, old tribal women masticate more manioc and spit the juice into a bowl.• I made a wad out of the young leaves and twigs and tried to masticate slowly.Origin masticate (1600-1700) Late Latin past participle of masticare, from Greek mastichan “to press the teeth together” 