Crossword Genius

Eat, but not in silence (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

munch

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'eat' is the definition.
(I know that munch is a type of bite)

'not in silence' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'not' could be 'un' (prefix meaning 'not') and 'un' is present in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'but' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for munch that I've seen before include "Edvard -, Norwegian artist (The Scream)" , "Eat noisily" , "champ" , "who put one screaming on the canvas?" , "Norwegian painter" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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