bite off more than you can chew meaning, bite off more than you can chew definition | English Cobuild dictionary

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chew
( chews plural & 3rd person present) ( chewing present participle) ( chewed past tense & past participle )

1       verb   When you chew food, you use your teeth to break it up in your mouth so that it becomes easier to swallow.
Be certain to eat slowly and chew your food extremely well...      V n
Daniel leaned back on the sofa, still chewing on his apple.      V at/on n
...the sound of his mother chewing and swallowing.      V

2 verb If you chew gum or tobacco, you keep biting it and moving it around your mouth to taste the flavour of it. You do not swallow it.
One girl was chewing gum... V n

3 verb If you chew your lips or your fingernails, you keep biting them because you are nervous.
He chewed his lower lip nervously. V n

4       verb   If a person or animal chews an object, they bite it with their teeth.   (=bite)
They pause and chew their pencils...      V n
One owner left his pet under the stairs where the animal chewed through electric cables.      V prep

5    If you say that someone has bitten off more than they can chew, you mean that they are trying to do something which is too difficult for them.
♦ bite off more than you can chew             phrase   bite inflects
Micky is used to handling dodgy deals but this time fears he may have bitten off more than he can chew.

6
  →   to chew the cud
  →   cud   chew up

1 phrasal verb If you chew food up, you chew it until it is completely crushed or soft.
I took one of the pills and chewed it up. V n P, Also V P n (not pron)

2       phrasal verb   If something is chewed up, it has been destroyed or damaged in some way.
INFORMAL   Every spring the ozone is chewed up, and the hole appears.      be V-ed P
...rebels who are now chewing up Government-held territory...      V P n (not pron)
This town is notorious for chewing people up and spitting them out.      V n P

Translation English - Cobuild Collins Dictionary

Collaborative Dictionary English Cobuild


there is more room on the outside than on the inside	q.	This expression means it is better to let one's emotions out, rather than bottled up inside. It is also often said when someone has gas.	this is just something my grandmother would say in cajun french
You can say that again!	id.	expression used to show full agreement on smth.
he can dish it but he can't take it	n.	this expression means 'he is very good at criticizing others but he can't accept criticism from others'
tops	adv.	maximum; no more (or later) than; at the most	E.g.: You have to be back at 11 o'clock tops; The show lasted one hour tops
one-stop shop	n.	a single place where you can find everything you need, usually found in different places
slumpy	adj.	undesirable, at much lower standards than expected	synonym for "shitty"
I can't take it	exp.	I can't understand it, I can't believe it, I can't accept it
! n-count	v.	has the same molecular kinetic energy but appears different in more ways than not.	[English.] to think like you are fucking the minds of others over while giving them all the love you can at the same time, and knowing this will help them.
can't be arsed	exp.	if you can't be arsed to do something, you can't be bothered to do it (you are too lazy to do it)	colloquial, British, very common
you catch more flies with honey	id.	the carrot is more effective than the stick
go-to person	n.	a person you can go to for help, advice or information

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"Collins Cobuild English Dictionary for Advanced Learners 4th edition published in 2003 © HarperCollins Publishers 1987, 1995, 2001, 2003 and Collins A-Z Thesaurus 1st edition first published in 1995 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995"