咀嚼(そしゃく)

そしゃく
noun
chewing; mastication; digesting (information)
cognitionhealth
1. chewing; mastication
The physical act of chewing food with the teeth.
よく咀嚼(そしゃく)して食(た)べる。
Chew your food well before eating.
咀嚼(そしゃく)回数(かいすう)を増(ふ)やすと満腹感(まんぷくかん)が得(え)られる。
Increasing the number of times you chew helps you feel full.
高齢者(こうれいしゃ)の咀嚼(そしゃく)能力(のうりょく)が低下(ていか)している。
The chewing ability of elderly people is declining.
2. digesting; mulling over
Mentally processing and understanding information thoroughly.
情報(じょうほう)を咀嚼(そしゃく)する。
To digest information.
難(むずか)しい概念(がいねん)を咀嚼(そしゃく)するのに時間(じかん)がかかった。
It took time to digest the difficult concept.
複雑(ふくざつ)な問題(もんだい)を咀嚼(そしゃく)してわかりやすく説明(せつめい)した。
I digested the complex issue and explained it in an easy-to-understand way.

咀嚼(そしゃく) has physical and mental meanings.

Sense 1 (PHYSICAL)

  • Medical/health term for chewing
  • Important for digestion and nutrition

Sense 2 (FIGURATIVE)

  • Processing information mentally
  • Understanding something thoroughly

Common collocations

Usage

The characters 咀(そ) and 嚼(しゃく) both relate to chewing, making this a rare doubled-meaning compound.

Related Words

Related: 嚥下(えんげ) (swallowing)
general
Added 2026.1.31 8:06 · Revised 2026.9.2 13:01
09000/09038_soshaku