Definition of "masticatory" [mas•ti•ca•to•ry]

• Of, relating to, or used in mastication: masticatory muscles. (adjective)
• Adapted for chewing. (adjective)
• A medicinal substance chewed to increase salivation. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "I can see them offering us a big tentacle, yes, right in the masticatory orifice!"
• "Its small grinding teeth suggest it had only weak masticatory muscles for chewing food, and probably tucked into soft vegetation, fruit and squidgy aquatic plants in deltas, the experts say."
• "Scientists were selectively breeding the foxes to be tame but suddenly found their tamest foxes had developed many of the traits found in dogs-- such as droopy ears, strange coat colors, decreased skull size in comparison to the wild-type, a decrease in tooth size and an overall reduction of the entire masticatory bone structure."