View synonyms for

mastication

[mas-ti-key-shuhn]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

the act or process of chewing.
Limited ability to open the mouth may make proper mastication of food more difficult.
the act or process of grinding, shredding, crushing, or kneading to a pulp: A machine with two horizontal rolls revolving in opposite directions is used for the mastication of rubber.
In the office he could hear the soft chatter of people on their phones, the steely mastication of a paper shredder, the thwack of a coffee mug being set down.
A machine with two horizontal rolls revolving in opposite directions is used for the mastication of rubber.
Forestry.��the act or process of grinding up small trees and brush in a forest in order to thin it out or reduce the fuel available to forest fires.
The remains of mastication and chipping are left on the forest floor, forming a mulch to protect the soil from compaction and erosion.

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Other Word Forms

remastication noun

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Word History and Origins

Origin of mastication¹

First recorded in 1400–50; from Late Latin ��پ��پ�ō��-, stem of ��پ��پ�ō “act of chewing,” equivalent to Latin ��پ�� + ��ō -ion ( def. ); masticate ( def. )

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Mechanical treatment includes wood chipping, mastication and removal of trees, branches, leaves, biomass and other material from the forest, which has built up in recent decades and can feed flames.

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The group’s goal is to get the park to do more thinning, mastication and biomass removal, which they hope will reduce the risk of sequoias dying in both prescribed burns and wildfires.

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Its goal is to get the park to do more thinning, mastication and biomass removal in addition to prescribed burns, she said.

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Forest Service spokesman Stanley Bercovitz said Yosemite has a good track record of letting fires do their natural work on the landscape, as well as a history of prescribed burns and mastication with heavy machinery.

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The "Saturn's ring" region — that's what we Cookies call the space in between our edges and our centers — should be distinctly chewy, a clenched tightness that elicits some mastication.

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When To Use

�� does��mastication mean?

Mastication is a technical word for the act of chewing.Mastication is the noun form of the verb masticate, meaning to chew or, less commonly, to reduce to a pulp by crushing or kneading, as is done in the rubber-making process. Mastication is almost always used in a scientific or technical context. In the everyday context of eating, people usually just say chewing.Example: Saliva is released from glands under the tongue to aid in the process of mastication.

masticate masticatory

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