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.
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
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
before 900; Middle English; Old English dēaw; cognate with German Tau, Old Norse dǫgg
Dew is moisture caused by condensation of water vapor in the air. Dew is what gets your feet wet when you walk across the grass on a summer morning. Think about a summer night — the sun goes down and the air begins to cool, along with everything that is outside, like grass. Then the sun comes up. The air heats up again, more quickly that the objects. This causes condensation — dew — on grass, plants, car windshields, and so on. Dew quickly evaporates in the sun. That's why you really only see and feel it early in the morning during summer.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He also came to treasure his time mowing the fairways each morning before the golfers arrived, the dew glistening on the grass while the nibbling, untroubled deer looked on from the rough.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026
With dew not playing a part in making the ball harder to grip for the West Indies bowlers, it proved too much for England when the ball turned.
From BBC ● Feb. 11, 2026
"So we'll be trying to lose the odd toss, but no, you've got to try and factor in the dew, the opposition and what you think the pitch might do."
From Barron's ● Feb. 5, 2026
A higher dew point means the air is moister and thus will feel muggier.
From Slate ● Jun. 25, 2025
“Well, if you are so obstinate, I will leave you; for I dare not stay any longer: the dew begins to fall. Good evening!”
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
DEW are now moving into procurement, shipboard integration and operational air-defense networks.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 29, 2026
Billions of dollars have been invested in the technology, and in 2018 the US Navy ordered two DEW prototypes for around $75 million each.
From Barron's ● Mar. 16, 2026
Umi Patel, the Vice President of consumer insights and analytics at PepsiCo Beverages North America, said the new visual identity "tested positively and drove positive purchase intent across DEW loyalists, Gen Z and millennial consumers."
From Salon ● Oct. 10, 2024
He runs a virtual museum devoted to the DEW Line, a chain of 63 radar bases mostly in Canada’s Arctic.
From New York Times ● Jan. 28, 2023
On Thursday morning all broadcasts broke off to report that the DEW line of radars across Canada had reported objects in the air moving across the North Pole toward the United States.
From Long Ago, Far Away by Leinster, Murray
While the groups that attacked Javits professed to reflect the dews of U.S.
From Time Magazine Archive
After long basking on the French Riviera, Somerset Maugham returned to London for a ten-week chill in Britain's foggy-foggy autumnal dews.
From Time Magazine Archive
The stillness of noon, the depths of twilight, and the dews and pearls of the morning, are all to be found on the | canvases of this most benevolent and kindhearted man.
From Time Magazine Archive
He stooped to remove his shoes, damp with the heavy dews of pasture and field.
From "Across Five Aprils" by Irene Hunt
When it is a warm night there are sure to be heavy dews; besides, the stars are not so bright with us as they are here, nor is the air so soft.
From A Roving Commission Or, Through the Black Insurrection at Hayti by Henty, G. A. (George Alfred)
In the Philippines a native combo dewed the eyes of the crew of an LST with a proud performance of Stardust.
From Time Magazine Archive
In the corner of my eye, I could only see a hint of him—eyes as incandescently blue as the heart of fire, a briar of dark hair dewed with lagoon water.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
I crammed my ribbon tie in my vest pocket and unbuttoned my collar, wiping at the clammy sweat dewed on my neck.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
Their corners were vague, their facades streaked, dewed, smeared.
From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin
The sky is pale blue there, dewed with yellow.
From "The Inquisitor's Tale" by Adam Gidwitz
Sadly not, for the dewing is done by sprinklers, and the baby is alone.
From The New Yorker ● Apr. 5, 2019
I could see the lips whitening and drying, the forehead dewing with tiny beads of perspiration.
From The Sixth Sense A Novel by McKenna, Stephen
In our isle's enchanted hall, Hands unseen thy couch are strewing, 630 Fairy strains of music fall, Every sense in slumber dewing.
From Lady of the Lake by Moody, William Vaughn
In our isle's enchanted hall, Hands unseen thy couch are strewing, Fairy strains of music fall, Every sense in slumber dewing.
From McGuffey's Sixth Eclectic Reader by McGuffey, William Holmes
He merely found himself abruptly in full possession of his senses, nerves tingling, moisture dewing his forehead, his whole being concentrated in the one act of—listening!
From Shoe-Bar Stratton by Gage, George W.
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.
