dew
moisture condensed from the atmosphere, especially at night, and deposited in the form of small drops upon any cool surface.
something like or compared to such drops of moisture, as in purity, delicacy, or refreshing quality.
moisture in small drops on a surface, as tears or perspiration.
Informal.
to wet with or as with dew.
Origin of dew
1Other words from dew
- dewless, adjective
- un·dewed, adjective
Words that may be confused with dew
Other definitions for DEW (2 of 2)
distant early warning.
- Compare DEW line.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use dew in a sentence
Nearer came the sounds and louder, as they spread towards the fort through thickening shadows and the white dews of night.
Menotah | Ernest G. HenhamNone of your vales, nor your dews and your roses—and your flowery fields, and your myrtle groves.
The Hubble-Shue | Christian CarstairsAnd not Israel alone reaped the fruits of his own fine weather, but his dews fell wide.
The Lord of the Sea | M. P. ShielHere and there the heavy dews, touched by the moon lances, flung back flames of sapphire, cold and sharp.
The Adventures of Kathlyn | Harold MacGrathThe dampness of the grave-yard clung to me, and the night dews were beginning to fall.
Ernest Linwood | Caroline Lee Hentz
British Dictionary definitions for dew
/ (djuː) /
drops of water condensed on a cool surface, esp at night, from vapour in the air
(in combination): dewdrop
something like or suggestive of this, esp in freshness: the dew of youth
small drops of moisture, such as tears
(tr) poetic to moisten with or as with dew
Origin of dew
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for dew
[ dōō ]
Water droplets condensed from the air, usually at night, onto cool surfaces near the ground. Dew forms when the temperature of the surfaces falls below the dew point of the surrounding air, usually due to radiational cooling. See also frost.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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