chaw tobacco
Chewing tobacco, or a wad of it in your jaw.
Also called chaw, chaw terbacker.
Updated September 21, 2026
chaw tobacco pronunciation
/chaw tuh-BAK-er/
Meaning
Chaw tobacco is chewing tobacco said the rural way. "Chaw" is the old pronunciation of chew, and folks use it for the leaf itself or the plug parked in somebody's cheek. In redneck and Appalachian talk you still hear "gimme a chaw" more than "may I have some chewing tobacco."
How folks use it
- “Granddaddy kept a tin of chaw tobacco in the truck door.”
- “Don't ask him a question till he parks that chaw tobacco somewhere polite.”
Origin and etymology
Chaw is a long-standing variant of chew, used as a verb since the 1500s. By the early 1700s the noun meant a chewed wad, especially tobacco. Southern and Appalachian speech kept "chaw" and "chaw tobacco" (sometimes "terbacker") in everyday farm and porch talk.
Frequently asked questions
Is chaw the same as dip?
Close cousins. Chaw usually means leaf you chew. Dip is moist snuff you pack in your lip. Both get called tobacco habits either way.