munch

verb

ˈmənch 

munched; munching; munches

transitive verb

: to eat with a chewing action

many a mouthful is munched in private

—Washington Irving

also : to snack on

drank coffee and munched homemade cookies

—Lady Bird Johnson

intransitive verb

: to eat or chew something

also : snack

—usually used with on

muncher noun

Examples of munch in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

By midmorning, the horses, most rescued from neglect and hoarding situations, stood in the sunshine munching hay and grain. —Nazaneen Ghaffar, New York Times, 18 Feb. 2025

Make a $10 donation to the Memphis Zoo Dating or Dumping campaign and choose to receive a digital thank-you card and a video of a red panda munching on a grape or a digital thank-you card and a video of a resident elephant taking a poo. —Greta Cross, USA TODAY, 10 Feb. 2025

After taxes the winners are walking away with around $200,000 for three months of filming and a grueling Final — the winner of Survivor 47 scooped up more than double that just for lounging on the beach in Fiji for 26 days munching on french fries. —Emma Sharpe, Vulture, 1 Jan. 2025

But is midnight munching bad for your overall health? —Scott Lafee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 Mar. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English monchen, probably of imitative origin

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Rhymes for munch

• brunch
• bunch
• chinch
• crunch
• hunch
• lunch
• punch
• keypunch

Kids Definition

munch

verb

ˈmənch 

: to eat with a chewing action

also : to snack on

munched popcorn and watched a movie

muncher noun

Biographical Definition

Munch 1 of 2

biographical name (1)

ˈmu̇nch  ˈmᵫnch 

Charles 1891–1968 Alsatian-born conductor

Munch

2 of 2

biographical name (2)

ˈmu̇ŋk 

Edvard 1863–1944 Norwegian painter