chewing gum, confection consisting usually of chicle chicle , name for the gum obtained from the latex of the sapodilla tree (Manilkara zapota), a tropical American evergreen. The sapodilla (known also by many other common names) is widely cultivated in tropical regions, including S Florida, for its fruit, which
..... Click the link for more information. , flavorings, and corn syrup and sugar (or artificial sweeteners). Prehistoric people are believed to have chewed resins. Spruce resin was chewed as a thirst quencher by Native Americans, from whom pioneers adopted the custom. Refined paraffin was later used and then chicle, which was probably first imported into the United States through Mexico. A chicle gum was patented in 1869 by William and Semple. In the present-day manufacture of chewing gum blocks of chicle are ground, melted, and cleared in a whirling vat, and then the flavorings (e.g., fruits, licorice, mints) and other ingredients are added. The gum is rolled through sheeting machinery and chopped into sticks or into candy-coated pellets. Insoluble plastics may be mixed with or substituted for the chicle. The United States is the major producer, exporter, and consumer, of chewing gum.

chewing gum

Sweetened product made from chicle and similar resilient substances that is chewed for its flavour. Tree resins have been chewed as teeth cleaners and breath fresheners since ancient times. The latex (called chicle) of the Central American sapodilla tree was first used to mass-produce chewing gum in the 19th century; its plasticity, insolubility in water, and ability to hold a flavour made it an ideal chewing-gum base. After World War II other gums and synthetic rubbers came to replace chicle.

Mentioned in	?		References in classic literature	?		Encyclopedia browser	?		Full browser	?
No references found	This much-enduring man had succeeded in banishing chewing gum after a long and stormy war, had made a bonfire of the confiscated novels and newspapers, had suppressed a private post office, had forbidden distortions of the face, nicknames, and caricatures, and done all that one man could do to keep half a hundred rebellious girls in order. Little Women by Alcott, Louisa May View in context	Cheverev, Aleksandr Mikhailovich Cheverus, Jean Louis Anne Madeleine Lefebvre de Cheves, Langdon chevet Cheviot Cheviot Hills Chevkinite Chevrel phase Chevrel phases Chevreul, Michel Eugene Chevreul, Michel Eugène Chevreul, Michel Éugène Chevreuse, Marie de Rohan-Montbazon, duchess de Chevreuse, Marie de Rohan-Montbazon, duchesse de Chevrolet, Louis Chevron chevron fold chevron pattern chevron slat chevrotain Chevy Chase Chew, Benjamin Chewa Chewacla State Park chewing chewing gum Cheyenne Cheyenne County Cheyenne Frontier Days Cheyenne Mountain Cheyenne Mountain State Park Cheyenne River Cheyenne State Recreation Area Cheyne, Sir William Watson Cheyne, Thomas Kelly Cheyne-Stokes respiration Chezib Chézy formula Chhattisgarh Chhau Mask-Dance Festival Chi chi element Chi Kang chi meson Chi Pai-Shih chi rho Chi'an Chi-lin Chi-nan Chi-ning Chi-Square Distribution	chewer chewer chewers chewers Chewet Chewette Chewie chewier Chewies chewiest chewiness chewing chewing chewing chewing chewing ass chewing ass chewing ass chewing ass chewing cycle chewing cycle chewing cycle chewing disease chewing disease chewing disease chewing force chewing force chewing force chewing force chewing force chewing gum Chewing Gum Action Group chewing gum diarrhea Chewing Gum Diarrhoea Chewing Gum/Packaging Material Mixture Chewing Hard Indigestible Potato Skins :-) Chewing ice Chewing louse Chewing louse Chewing louse Chewing louse chewing out chewing out chewing over chewing over chewing reflex chewing the cud chewing the cud chewing the cud Chewing the Fat Chewing the Fat chewing the rag chewing the rag Chewing the scenery Chewing the scenery Chewing the scenery Chewing tobacco chewing up chewing up Chewing's fescue Chewing-gum

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

Encyclopedia browser

Full browser

No references found

This much-enduring man had succeeded in banishing chewing gum after a long and stormy war, had made a bonfire of the confiscated novels and newspapers, had suppressed a private post office, had forbidden distortions of the face, nicknames, and caricatures, and done all that one man could do to keep half a hundred rebellious girls in order.

Little Women by Alcott, Louisa May View in context