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mew

- 17 dictionary results

mew

1  [myoo]
Use mew in a Sentence
–noun
1. the tiny, high-pitched sound a cat or kitten makes.
2. the characteristic sound a gull makes.
–verb (used without object)
3. to make a mew or emit a similar sound.
Origin:
1275–1325; ME meuen; imit.

mew

2  [myoo]
–noun
a small gull, Larus canus, of Eurasia and northwestern North America.
Also called mew gull.

Origin:
bef. 900; ME; OE mǣwe; c. G Müwe

mew

3  [myoo]
–noun
1. a cage for hawks, esp. while molting.
2. a pen in which poultry is fattened.
3. a place of retirement or concealment.
4. mews, (usually used with a singular verb) Chiefly British.
a. (formerly) an area of stables built around a small street.
b. a street having small apartments converted from such stables.
–verb (used with object)
5. Archaic. to shut up in or as in a mew; confine; conceal (often fol. by up).
Origin:
1325–75; ME mue < MF, akin to muer to molt. See mew 4

mew

4  [myoo]
–verb (used with object), verb (used without object)
to shed (feathers); to molt.
Origin:
1325–75; ME mewen < OF muer to molt < L mūtāre to change

Related forms:
mewer, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To mew
mew 1   (myōō)   
n.  
  1. A cage for hawks, especially when molting.
  2. A secret place; a hideaway.
  3. mews (used with a sing. or pl. verb)
    1. A group of buildings originally containing private stables, often converted into residential apartments.
    2. A small street, alley, or courtyard on which such buildings stand.
v.   mewed, mew·ing, mews

v.   tr.
To confine in or as if in a cage.
v.   intr.
To molt. Used of a hawk.

[Middle English meue, from Old French mue, from muer, to molt, from Latin mūtāre, to change; see mei-1 in Indo-European roots.]
mew 2   (myōō)   
intr.v.   mewed, mew·ing, mews
To make the high-pitched, crying sound of a cat; meow.
n.  The crying sound of a cat; a meow.

[Middle English meuen, of imitative origin.]
mew 3   (myōō)   
n.  A seagull (Larus canus) of northern Eurasia and northwest North America.

[Middle English meue, from Old English mǣw, mēu.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Mew

Mew\, n. [AS. m?w, akin to D. meeuw, G. m["o]we, OHG. m?h, Icel. m[=a]r.] (Zo["o]l.) A gull, esp. the common British species (Larus canus); called also sea mew, maa, mar, mow, and cobb.

Mew

Mew\, v. 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

Mew\, v. 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

Mew\, n. [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

Mew\, v. 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. --Shak.

Close mewed in their sedans, for fear of air. --Dryden.

Mew

Mew\, v. i. [Of imitative origin; cf. G. miauen.] To cry as a cat. [Written also meaw, meow.] --Shak.

Mew

Mew\, n. The common cry of a cat. --Shak.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : mew
Spanish: maullar,
German: miauen,
Japanese: ニャーと鳴く
More Translations »

mew  (v.)
"make a sound like a cat," c.1325, mewen, of imitative origin (cf. Ger. miauen, FR. miauler, It. miagolare, Sp. maullar, and see meow). Variant mewl is attested from 1600.

mew  (n.1)
"seagull," O.E. mæw, from P.Gmc. *maigwis (cf. O.S. mew, Fris. meau, M.L.G. mewe, Du. meeuw "gull"), of imitative origin. O.Fr. moue (Fr. mouette) and Lith. mevas are Gmc. loan-words.

mew  (n.2)
"cage," c.1300, from O.Fr. mue "cage for hawks, especially when molting," from muer "to molt," from L. mutare "to change" (see mutable).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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