slew
1 Americanverb
noun
verb
-
to twist or be twisted sideways, esp awkwardly
he slewed around in his chair
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nautical to cause (a mast) to rotate in its step or (of a mast) to rotate in its step
noun
verb
noun
noun
Other Word Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
has slewedperfect 3rd person singular
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have slewedperfect
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are slewingprogressive
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is slewingprogressive 3rd person singular
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am slewingprogressive 1st person singular
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have been slewingperfect progressive
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slewssingular 3rd person
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has been slewingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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slewingparticiple
Past
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had slewedperfect
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slewedparticiple
-
were slewingprogressive plural
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slewedsimple
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had been slewingperfect progressive
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was slewingprogressive singular
Future
Etymology
Origin of slew
1830–40, < Irish sluagh crowd, throng, army, host
Explanation
Of all the many nouns referring to a large group of things, one of the most fun is slew, as in "I saw a whole slew of birds in the tree by the river." American English is constantly evolving, its richness coming from the many languages feeding into it. The noun slew, for instance, is from the Irish Gaelic sluagh, meaning "multitude." As an unrelated verb, it's the past tense of slay.
Vocabulary lists containing slew
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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St. Patrick's Day Vocabulary: Words With Irish and Gaelic Roots
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The Watsons Go to Birmingham
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Indy was sired by Seattle Slew, a Triple Crown winner, and won the Belmont Stakes and Breeders’ Cup Classic as a 3-year-old in 1992.
From Washington Post • May 5, 2022
Seattle Slew ran afterward and was badly beaten.
From Seattle Times • Jan. 1, 2022
Seattle Slew goes on to take the Triple Crown with victories in the Preakness and Belmont Stakes.
From Los Angeles Times • May 7, 2020
Seattle Slew and Affirmed, the 1977 and ’78 Triple Crown winners, were each listed at 5-1 odds.
From Washington Times • Apr. 29, 2020
Slew that there gun round, boys, and let’s give her another shot or two while there’s a chance.”
From The Ocean Cat's Paw The Story of a Strange Cruise by Stacey, W. S. (Walter S.)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
