Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Chew |
ChewNoun1. A wad of something chewable as tobacco. 2. Biting and grinding food in your mouth so it becomes soft enough to swallow. Verb1. Chew (food); "He jawed his bubble gum"; "Chew your food and don't swallow it!"; "The cows were masticating the grass". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "chew" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1258. (references) |
Note: Chew \Chew\ (ch[udd]), transitive verb. [imperfect & past participle. Chewed(ch[udd]d); Chewing.]. (references) |
Synonyms: ChewSynonyms: chaw (n), chewing (n), cud (n), mastication (n), plug (n), quid (n), wad (n), jaw (v), manducate (v), masticate (v). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Food | Verb: eat, feed, fare, devour, swallow, take; gulp, bolt, snap; fall to; despatch, dispatch; discuss; take down, get down, gulp down; lay in, tuck in; lick, pick, peck; gormandize; bite, champ, munch, cranch, craunch, crunch, chew, masticate, nibble, gnaw, mumble. |
Pungency | Render -pungent. Adjective: season, spice, salt, pepper, pickle, brine, devil. smoke, chew, take snuff. |
Thought | Take into consideration; take counsel; (be advised); commune with oneself, bethink oneself; collect one's thoughts; revolve in the mind, turn over in the mind, run over in the mind; chew the cud upon, sleep upon; take counsel of one's pillow, advise with one's pillow. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Chew |
| English words defined with "chew": bubble gum dermatitis ♦ cartilaginous, chaffer, Cham, champ, chat, chatter, chaw, chewable, Chewed, chitchat, chomp, claver, confab, confabulate, crunch, cuttable ♦ fibrous ♦ gnaw, gossip, gristly, gum ♦ jaw ♦ manducate, masticate, mumble, Munch ♦ natter ♦ Remasticate, rubbery, ruminate ♦ sinewy, stringy ♦ tender, tough ♦ unchewable ♦ visit. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "chew": blue goo ♦ Clean and Unclean Animals, CYMBOPOGON NARDUS ♦ LOTUS EATERS ♦ Streptococcus pyogenes. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "chew": mastic. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Just don't chew it. (Mission: Impossible; writing credit: Bruce Geller; David Koepp) Chew, if only you could see what I've seen with your eyes (Blade Runner; writing credit: Philip K. Dick; Hampton Fancher) Someone stole my gold teeth and I can't chew my food down here (Gui ma tian shi; writing credit: Arthur Lovegrove) Instead of chewing gum, chew bacon (The Simpsons; writing credit: Artur Brauner; Paul Hengge) No, sir. I don't chew tobacco and I don't play cards (She Wore a Yellow Ribbon; writing credit: Borden Chase; Stuart N. Lake) | |
Lyrics | I recommend biting off more than you can chew to anyone (You Learn; performing artist: Alanis Morissette) To choke you to death wit a Charleston chew (Forgot About Dre; performing artist: Dr. dre) When I bit off more than I could chew. ("My Way"; performing artist: Frank Sinatra) I'd sooner chew my leg off, (Bittersweet Me; performing artist: R.E.M.) The fashion victims chew their charcoal teeth (Zero; performing artist: The smashing pumpkins) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Chew Chew Baby (1958) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
Books | |||
Music |
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Consumer Goods | |||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Chew Chew Slo-o-owly... Credit: National Library of Medicine. |  | Chew Sugarless Gum : Not! Smokeless-Tobacco / Douglas Cooley. Credit: National Library of Medicine. |
 | If You Don't Chew : Don't Start. Credit: National Library of Medicine. |  | Fly Free : Don't Chew. Credit: National Library of Medicine. |
 | Don't Bite Off More Than You Can Chew : Smokeless Doesn't Mean Harmless!. Credit: National Library of Medicine. |  | Smokeless Isn't Harmless : If you dip or chew get the facts:. Credit: National Library of Medicine. |
 | Be Smart...Don't Start : But If You Chew... / Dan L. Begaye. Credit: National Library of Medicine. | ||
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| Play | Caption |
 | Crunching; chewing; grinding; mastication; masticate; eat; eating; chew . |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | Chew your food well for easier digestion. (references) | |
Don't smoke, chew tobacco, or drink alcohol. (references) | ||
Suck on hard candy or popsicles or chew gum. These can help make more saliva. (references) | ||
Economic History | Malaysia | The major Malay-language newspapers are Utusan Malaysia and Berita Harian, while the largest Chinese papers are Sin Chew Pit Poh and Nanyang Siang Pau. (references) |
Travel | Yemen | Chemically related to amphetamines, qat is a "Class 4" controlled substance under U.S. law and may not be brought to the U.S. Individuals with heart problems, high blood pressure, insomnia, or gastro-intestinal problems should not chew. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Term | Phrase(s) |
Bill Clinton | 1993-2001 | But I know that last year, as the evidence indicates, we bit off more than we could chew. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Chew" is generally used as a lexical verb (infinitive) -- approximately 62.24% of the time. "Chew" is used about 294 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Lexical Verb (infinitive) | 62.24% | 183 | 22,794 |
| Lexical Verb (base form) | 19.39% | 57 | 44,859 |
| Noun (singular) | 11.9% | 35 | 58,339 |
| Noun (proper) | 6.46% | 19 | 80,337 |
| Total | 100.00% | 294 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| The following table summarizes the usage of "chew" based on a population census conducted in the United States. Ranks and frequencies are based on all names reported and classified. |
| Name | Usage/Gender | Usage per 100 million Persons | Rank in USA |
| Chew | Last name | 3,000 | 4,674 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits. | |||
Expressions using "chew": bite off more than one can chew ♦ chew again ♦ chew at ♦ chew on ♦ chew out ♦ chew over ♦ chew the cud ♦ chew the fat ♦ chew the rag ♦ chew through ♦ chew to pieces ♦ chew tobacco ♦ chew up ♦ To chew the cud. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "chew": chew-de-chew-chew-chewdy-chew-de-chew-chew, chew-ew, chew-gum. | |
Ending with "chew": chew-de-chew-chew-chewdy-chew-de-chew-chew, mid-chew. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "chew"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Afrikaans | kou. (various references) | |
Albanian | përtypje (crunch, mastication), përtyp (champ, crunch, masticate, munch), përçap (chump, masticate), mbllaçit (masticate, munch), grij (canker, cut into pieces, grate, grind, hash, mince, scour, scrape, shred), gërryerje (abrasion, caries, corrosion, denudation, depreciation, detrition, erosion, weathering), gërryej (be corroded, be eroded, cave, corrode, dredge, erode, gouge, hollow out, honeycomb, rasp, scoop out, scuff, tear, tear to pieces). (various references) | |
Arabic | مضغة (bit, bite, morsel, quid), مضغ (chewing, crunch, gum, masticate, mastication), قضم (bite, bite into, bite nails, bite off, biting, champ, crush, gnaw, munch, nibble, prey, snap, worry at). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | тютюн за дъвкане, преживяне (rumination), дъвча тютюн, дъвча (champ, chaw, grind, masticate, mouth, munch), дъвкане. (various references) | |
Chinese | 嚼 (Chewed, Chewing), '嚼 , ' . (various references) | |
Czech | žvýkat (masticate, munch), žvýkání (chewing, mastication). (various references) | |
Danish | tygge. (various references) | |
Dutch | kauwen (mastication). (various references) | |
Esperanto | maĉi. (various references) | |
Faeroese | tyggja. (various references) | |
Farsi | تفکرکردن (Consider, Contemplate, Imagine, Meditate, Muse, Ponder, Speculate), خاییدن (Gnaw), جویدن (Champ, Chaw, Masticate, Munch). (various references) | |
Finnish | purra (bite), pureskella (masticate, munch), pureksia. (various references) | |
French | mâcher. (various references) | |
Frisian | kôgje. (various references) | |
German | kauen (champ, chaw, chomp, masticate, mastication). (various references) | |
Greek | μασώ (champ, masticate, mastticate). (various references) | |
Hebrew | ללעוס (manducate, masticate), לקסוס (munch, turn sour), לכרסם (gnaw, mill, nibble), לכסוס (bite nails, crunch, gnaw, grind). (various references) | |
Hungarian | rágás (chewing, mastication), bagó (chewing tobacco, fag, negro head, peanuts, plug, quid). (various references) | |
Indonesian | mengunyah (munch). (various references) | |
Irish | cogain. (various references) | |
Italian | masticare (masticate, mumble, munch). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 齧る (to bite, to chew, to crunch, to gnaw, to have a smattering of, to munch, to nibble), 噛 める (to chew thoroughly, to reflect upon), 噛潰す (to chew up), 噛む (to bite, to chew, to gnaw), 噛る (to bite, to chew, to crunch, to gnaw, to have a smattering of, to munch, to nibble), 噛み熟す (to chew, to digest), 噛み める (to chew well, to digest), 油'絞る (to chew out, to give a sound scolding, to press oil, to rake over the coals, to reprimand severely), 油'搾る (to chew out, to give a sound scolding, to press oil, to rake over the coals, to reprimand severely), 歯が立たない (hard to chew, unable to compete with), して言えば (always, be in shape, being downhearted, blearily, chat, clipped, constantly, crisp, Damn it!, drizzling, easy to do, easy to make, gently, hold a dignified appearance, if I must say, precise, rice prepared for sushi, shamelessly, stubborn, style of Japanese cooking, talk, tenacious, to be dejected, to be disheartened, to be dispirited, to chew, to lose heart, to pee, to piss, to squat, to suck, weakly), 'む (to bite, to chew, to gnaw). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | しゃぶる (to chew, to suck), かむ (to bite, to chew, to gnaw), かじる (to bite, to chew, to crunch, to gnaw, to have a smattering of, to munch, to nibble), かみしめる (to chew thoroughly, to chew well, to digest, to reflect upon), かみつぶす (to chew up), かみ"なす (to chew, to digest), あぶら'しぼる (to chew out, to give a sound scolding, to press oil, to rake over the coals, to reprimand severely), はがたたない (hard to chew, unable to compete with). (various references) | |
Korean | "기. (various references) | |
Manx | caigney (file, gnaw, mumble, munch, rasp). (various references) | |
Maya | hach (to chew). (various references) | |
Norwegian | tygge. (various references) | |
Papiamen | kou. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | ewchay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | mastigar (bite, masticate), mastigação (champ), mascar (chaw, masticate). (various references) | |
Romanian | cugeta la (ponder), tutun de mestecat (quid), rumegat (Cud), rumega (champ, chew the cud, eat, ruminate), mestecare (mastication), mesteca (champ, eat, manducate, masticate, mouth, ruminate, stir). (various references) | |
Romany | chamkèrav (to chew). (various references) | |
Russian | жевать (masticate, munch, ruminate). (various references) | |
Scottish | cn mh (corrode, corroding, digest, digesting, gnaw, gnawing, waste, wasting), cagainn (gnaw, masticate). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | sažvakati (chew up), preživanje (cud), žvakati (masticate), žvakanje (chewing, mastication). (various references) | |
Spanish | masticar (masticate, munch, scrunch), mascar (mumble, munch). (various references) | |
Sranan | kaw (bovine, bovine animal, cow). (various references) | |
Swedish | tugga (bite, champ, masticate, repeart, shew). (various references) | |
Turkish | tütün parçası, tütün çiğnemek, lokma (bit, bite, gobbet, gulp, morsel, mouthful), kafa yormak (beat one's brains, hammer away, ponder, puzzle one's brains, puzzle one's head, think hard), derin derin düşünmek (be lost in thought, chew the cud, think deeply), düşünüp taşınmak (calculate, cogitate, cogitate over, debate, debate with oneself, look round, mull over, ponder, ponder over, pore, reason, reason out, reflect, revolve, ruminate, think over, turn over, turn over in one's mind, weigh, worry out), düşünüp taşınma (calculation, cogitation), çiğnemek (break, champ, chump, contravene, crunch, infringe, masticate, outrage, override, run down, run over, squelch, stamp, swamp, tramp, trample, trample down, transgress, violate), çiğneme (breach, chewing, contravention, infraction, mastication, masticatory, nonobservance, non-observance, run over, trample, tread under foot), çíğnemek. (various references) | |
Turkmen | зeяnemek, зenemek (take aim at, threaten). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | розжовувати (spoon feed), тютюн для жування, обмірковувати (cast, deliberate, discuss, mull over, perpend, ponder, ponderate, revolve, think over, turn over), замишляти (agitate, cogitate, compass, design, meditate, premeditate, purpose, scheme), жувати (champ, chaw, masticate, munch, ruminate), жування (chaw, chewing, mastication), жуйка (champ, chaw, gum), пережовувати. (various references) | |
Vietnamese | sự nhai sự nhai thuốc lá. (various references) | |
Welsh | cnoi (ache, bite, gnaw). (various references) | |
Yucatec | hach'ik. (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | conmanducaverunt, mandare, mandas, mandat, mandatis, mandebant, mandetis, mandi, mando, manduca, manducabam, manducabant, manducabat, manducabimus, manducabis, manducabit, manducabitis, manducabo, manducabunt, manducandi, manducandum, manducans, manducant, manducantem, manducantibus, manducantium, manducare, manducarent, manducaret, manducas, manducasse, manducassent, manducasset, manducasti, manducastis, manducat, manducate, manducatis, manducaturos, manducaverant, manducaverimus, manducaverit, manducaveritis, manducaverunt, manducavi, manducavimus, manducavit, manducem, manducemus, manducent, manduces, manducet, manducetis, mansi. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Language | Date | Source | Leviticus Chapter 11, Verse 4 |
| Greek (transliterated) | 250 BC | Septuagint | Plhn apo toutwn ou fagesqe apo twn anagontwn mhrukismon kai apo twn dichlountwn taV oplaV kai onucizontwn onucisthraV ton kamhlon oti anagei mhrukismon touto oplhn de ou dichlei akaqarton touto umin |
| Latin | 405 | Vulgate | Quicquid autem ruminat quidem et habet ungulam sed non dividit eam sicut camelus et cetera non comedetis illud et inter inmunda reputabitis |
| Middle English | 1395 | Wyclif | What euer forsothe chewith kude, and hath clee, but dyuydith it not, as camel and othere, ye shulen not eete it, and among vnclenne thinges ye shulen holde it. |
| Renaissance English | 1526 | Tyndale | Neuerthelesse, these shall ye not eate of them that chewe cud and haue hoffes. The camel, for he cheweth cud but he deuydeth not the hoffe in to two clawes therfore he shall be vnclene vnto you. |
| Jacobean English | 1611 | King James | Nevertheless these shall ye not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that divide the hoof: as the camel, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you. |
| Victorian English | 1833 | Webster | Nevertheless, these shall ye not eat, of them that chew the cud, or of them that divide the hoof: the camel, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean to you. |
| Basic English | 1964 | Ogden | But, at the same time, of those beasts, you may not take for food the camel, because its food comes back but the horn of its foot is not parted in two; it is unclean to you. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Leviticus Chapter 11, Verse 4 |
| Cebuano | Apan sa mga nagapangusap, kun sa mga may kuko nga pikas dili ninyo pagakan-on kini: ang camello, kay bisan pa nga kini nagapangusap, kini walay tiil nga pikas: mahugaw siya alang kaninyo; |
| Croatian | Ali ove, iako preživaju ili papke imaju, ne smijete jesti: devu, jer iako preživa, razdvojena papka nema - za vas je neèista; |
| Danish | Men følgende må I ikke spise af dem der tygger Drøv, og af dem, der har Klove: Kamelen, thi den tygger vel Drøv, men har ikke Klove; den skal være eder uren; |
| Dutch | Deze nochtans zult gij niet eten, van degenen, die alleen herkauwen, of de klauwen alleen verdelen: den kemel, want hij herkauwt wel, maar verdeelt den klauw niet; die zal u onrein zijn; |
| Finnish | Näitä älkää kuitenkaan syökö niistä, jotka märehtivät, ja niistä, joilla on sorkat: kamelia, joka kyllä märehtii, mutta jolla ei ole sorkkia: se olkoon teille saastainen; |
| French | Mais vous ne mangerez pas de ceux qui ruminent seulement, ou qui ont la corne fendue seulement. Ainsi, vous ne mangerez pas le chameau, qui rumine, mais qui n`a pas la corne fendue: vous le regarderez comme impur. |
| German | Was aber wiederkäut und hat Klauen und spaltet sie doch nicht, wie das Kamel, das ist euch unrein, und ihr sollt's nicht essen. |
| Haitian Creole | Men, gen bèt ki remoute manje epi ki pa gen zago yo fann. Bèt konsa nou pa gen dwa manje yo. Sa pa bon pou nou! Nou gen chamo ki remoute manje men ki pa gen zago yo fann. Vyann li pa bon pou nou manje. |
| Hungarian | De a kérõdzõk és a hasadt körmûek közül ne egyétek meg ezeket: A tevét, mert az kérõdzõ ugyan, de nincs hasadt körme; tisztátalan ez néktek. |
| Indonesian-Bahasa Sehari-hari | Jangan makan unta, pelanduk atau kelinci. Binatang itu haram karena walaupun memamah biak, kukunya tidak terbelah. |
| Indonesian-Terjemahan Lama | Tetapi tiada boleh kamu makan dari pada segala yang memamah biak sahaja, atau yang terbelah kukunya sahaja, seperti unta, karena sungguhpun ia memamah biak, tetapi kukunya tiada terbelah, maka haramlah ia kepadamu; |
| Italian | Ma fra i ruminanti e gli animali che hanno l'unghia divisa, non mangerete i seguenti: il cammello, perché rumina, ma non ha l'unghia divisa, lo considererete immondo; |
| Maori | Otiia kaua e kainga enei o nga mea e whakahoki ake ana i te kai, o nga mea hoki e tararua ana te matimati: ko te kamera, no te mea e whakahoki ake ana ano ia i te kai, otiia kahore i tararua te matimati; hei mea poke tena ki a koutou. |
| Norwegian | Det er bare disse I ikke skal ete blandt dem som tygger drøv, og blandt dem som har klover: kamelen, for den tygger vel drøv, men den har ikke klover, den skal være uren for eder, |
| Portuguese | Os seguintes, contudo, não comereis, dentre os que ruminam e dentre os que têm a unha fendida: o camelo, porque rumina mas não tem a unha fendida, esse vos será imundo; |
| Rumanian | Dar sq nu mkncayi din cele ce rumegq numai, sau cari au numai unghia despicatq. Astfel, sq nu mkncayi cqmila, care rumegq, dar n`are unghia despicatq: s`o priviyi ca necuratq. |
| Russian | ФПМШЛП УЙИ ОЕ ЕЫШФЕ ЙЪ ЦХАЭЙИ ЦЧБЮЛХ Й ЙНЕАЭЙИ ТБЪ"ЧПЕООЩЕ ЛП ЩФБ: ЧЕТ'МА"Б, ПФПНХ ЮФП ПО ЦХЕФ ЦЧБЮЛХ, ОП ЛП ЩФБ Х ОЕЗП ОЕ ТБЪ"ЧПЕОЩ, ОЕЮЙУФ ПО "МС ЧБУ; |
| Spanish | Pero de los que rumian o de los que tienen la pezuña partida, no comeréis éstos: el camello, porque rumia pero no tiene la pezuña partida, será para vosotros inmundo. |
| Swedish | Men dessa skolen I icke äta av de idisslande djuren och av dem som hava klövar: kamelen, ty han idisslar väl, men har icke klövar, han skall gälla för eder såsom oren; klippdassen, ty han idisslar väl |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "chew": chewable, chewed, chewer, chewers, chewier, chewiest, chewing, chewink, chewinks, chews, chewy. (additional references) | |
Words ending with "chew": eschew, fitchew, rechew. (additional references) | |
Words containing "chew": eschewal, eschewals, eschewed, eschewing, eschews, fitchews, rechewed, rechewing, rechews, unchewable, unchewed. (additional references) | |
| |
"Chew" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: ahew, bche, ceh, cehe, cehg, cew, chaiw, chauw, chawl, chawn, che, chea, chec, ched, chee, cheg, chek, chel, ch'el, chep, cher, chet, chev, chewa, chewn, chex, Chey, Chhen, chhet, Chibwe, Chiew, chiwa, chowk, chowl, chown, Chue, chw, ciew, coew, cxe, Dhew, echew, Hce, kew, kewk, Khaw, khe, pheew, phewf. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "chew" (pronounced khuw") |
| 2 | kh uw" | eschew, Tew. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "c-e-h-w" | |
-1 letter: hew. | |
-2 letters: eh, he, we. | |
| Words containing the letters "c-e-h-w" | |
+1 letter: chews, chewy, wecht, welch, wench. | |
+2 letters: cashew, chawed, chawer, chewed, chewer, chowed, chowse, eschew, lechwe, rechew, wechts, whence, wiches, wrench, wretch, wyches. | |
+3 letters: bewitch, cashews, chawers, chewers, chewier, chewing, chewink, chowder, chowsed, chowses, cowhage, cowherb, cowherd, cowhide, cowshed, eschews, fitchew, lechwes, rechews, watched, watcher, watches, welched, welcher, welches, wenched, wencher, wenches, whacked, whacker, whicker, winched, wincher, winches, witched, witches. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Sounds | 9. Quotations: Non-fiction 10. Quotations: Speeches 11. Usage Frequency 12. Names: Frequency | 13. Expressions 14. Expressions: Internet 15. Translations: Modern 16. Translations: Ancient | 17. Bible Trace 18. Derivations 19. Rhymes 20. Anagrams | 21. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
