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Webster 1913 Edition

Mew

Mew

,
Noun.
[AS.
m[GREEK]w
, akin to D.
meeuw
, G.
möwe
, OHG.
m[GREEK]h
, Icel.
mār
.]
(Zool.)
A gull, esp. the common British species (
Larus canus
); called also
sea mew
,
maa
,
mar
,
mow
, and
cobb
.

Mew

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Mewed
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Mewing
.]
[OE.
muen
, F.
muer
, fr. L.
mutare
to change, fr.
movere
to move. See
Move
, and cf.
Mew
a cage,
Molt
.]
To shed or cast; to change; to molt;
as, the hawk
mewed
his feathers
.
Nine times the moon had
mewed
her horns.
Dryden.

Mew

,
Verb.
I.
To cast the feathers; to molt; hence, to change; to put on a new appearance.
Now everything doth
mew
,
And shifts his rustic winter robe.
Turbervile.

Mew

,
Noun.
[OE.
mue
, F.
mue
change of feathers, scales, skin, the time or place when the change occurs, fr.
muer
to molt, mew, L.
mutare
to change. See 2d
Mew
.]
1.
A cage for hawks while mewing; a coop for fattening fowls; hence, any inclosure; a place of confinement or shelter; – in the latter sense usually in the plural.
Full many a fat partrich had he in
mewe
.
Chaucer.
Forthcoming from her darksome
mew
.
Spenser.
Violets in their secret
mews
.
Wordsworth.
2.
A stable or range of stables for horses; – compound used in the plural, and so called from the royal stables in London, built on the site of the king’s mews for hawks.

Mew

,
Verb.
T.
[From
Mew
a cage.]
To shut up; to inclose; to confine, as in a cage or other inclosure.
More pity that the eagle should be
mewed
.
Shakespeare
Close
mewed
in their sedans, for fear of air.
Dryden.

Mew

,
Verb.
I.
[Of imitative origin; cf. G.
miauen
.]
To cry as a cat.
[Written also
meaw
,
meow
.]
Shak.

Mew

,
Noun.
The common cry of a cat.
Shak.

Webster 1828 Edition

Mew

MEW

,
Noun.
A seafowl of the genus Larus; a gull.

MEW

,
Noun.
A cage for birds; an inclosure; a place of confinement.

MEW

,
Verb.
T.
[from the noun.] To shut up; to inclose; to confine, as in a cage or other inclosure.
More pity that the eagle should be mew'd.
Close mew'd in their sedans, for fear of air.

MEW

,
Verb.
T.
[L. muto and moto.] To shed or cast; to change; to molt. The hawk mewed his feathers.
Nine times the moon had mew'd her horns--

MEW

,
Verb.
I.
[L. mugio.] To cry as a cat.

MEW

,
Verb.
I.
To change; to put on a new appearance.

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