Definify.com

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.

Definition 2024

mew

mew

See also: Mew

English

Noun

mew ‎(plural mews)

  1. (archaic) A gull, seagull.
    • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, II.xii:
      A daungerous and detestable place, / To which nor fish nor fowle did once approch, / But yelling Meawes, with Seagulles hoarse and bace [...].
    • 1954, J. R. R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring:
      From helm to sea they saw him leap, / As arrow from the string, / And dive into the water deep, / As mew upon the wing.
Translations

Etymology 2

From Anglo-Norman mue, muwe, and Middle French mue ‎(“shedding feathers; cage for moulting birds; prison”), from muer ‎(“to moult”).

Noun

mew ‎(plural mews)

  1. (obsolete) A prison, or other place of confinement.
  2. (obsolete) A hiding place; a secret store or den.
    • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, II.vii:
      Ne toung did tell, ne hand these handled not, / But safe I haue them kept in secret mew, / From heauens sight, and powre of all which them pursew.
  3. (obsolete) A breeding-cage for birds.
  4. (falconry) A cage for hawks, especially while moulting.
    • 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, vol.I, New York, 2001, p.243:
      A horse in a stable that never travels, a hawk in a mew that seldom flies, are both subject to diseases; which, left unto themselves, are most free from any such encumbrances.
  5. (falconry, in the plural) A building or set of buildings where moulting birds are kept.

Verb

mew ‎(third-person singular simple present mews, present participle mewing, simple past and past participle mewed)

  1. (obsolete) To shut away, confine, lock up.
    • c. 1669, John Donne, "Loves Warre":
      To mew me in a Ship, is to inthrall / Mee in a prison, that weare like to fall [...].
    • Shakespeare
      More pity that the eagle should be mewed.
    • Dryden
      Close mewed in their sedans, for fear of air.
  2. (of a bird) To moult.
    The hawk mewed his feathers.
    • Dryden
      Nine times the moon had mewed her horns.
  3. (of a bird, obsolete) To cause to moult.
  4. (of a deer, obsolete) To shed antlers.

Etymology 3

Onomatopoeic

Noun

mew ‎(plural mews)

  1. The crying sound of a cat; a meow.
  2. The crying sound of a gull.
  3. (obsolete) An exclamation of disapproval; a boo.
Translations

Verb

mew ‎(third-person singular simple present mews, present participle mewing, simple past and past participle mewed)

  1. (of a cat) To meow.
Translations

Interjection

mew

  1. A cat's cry.
  2. A gull's cry.
  3. (archaic) An exclamation of disapproval; a boo.

Anagrams

Yurok

Noun

mew

  1. widower

Etymology

From Middle English mewe, from Old English mǣw, from Proto-Germanic *maihwaz, *maiwaz ‎(“seagull”) (compare West Frisian meau, mieu, Dutch meeuw, German Möwe), from *maiwijaną ‎(“to shout, mew”) (compare Middle English to shout, mew, Middle Dutch mauwen, Middle High German māwen); akin to Latvian maût ‎(“to roar”), Old Church Slavonic мꙑꙗти ‎(myjati, “to mew”).

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /mjuː/
  • (US) IPA(key): /mju/
  • Rhymes: -juː
  • Homophone: mu

Similar Results