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• dew
  dew

  noun

  moisture condensed from the atmosphere, especially at night, and deposited in the form of small drops upon any cool surface.
• DEW
  DEW

  distant early warning.

dew

¹ American  

[doo, dyoo] / du, dju /

noun

1. moisture condensed from the atmosphere, especially at night, and deposited in the form of small drops upon any cool surface.

2. something like or compared to such drops of moisture, as in purity, delicacy, or refreshing quality.

3. moisture in small drops on a surface, as tears or perspiration.

4. Informal.

   1. Scotch whisky.

   2. mountain dew.

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verb (used with object)

• dews,
  present (3rd person singular)
• dewed,
  past participle,  past
• dewing
  present participle

1. to wet with or as with dew.

DEW ² American  

[doo, dyoo] / du, dju /

1. distant early warning.

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dew British  

/ djuː /

noun

1. 1. drops of water condensed on a cool surface, esp at night, from vapour in the air

   2. ( in combination )

      dewdrop

2. something like or suggestive of this, esp in freshness

   the dew of youth

3. small drops of moisture, such as tears

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verb

1. poetic (tr) to moisten with or as with dew

dew Scientific  

/ do̅o̅ /

1. 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.

2. See also frost

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• dewless
  adjective
• undewed
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• dewing
  present
• dewed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• dew
  simple
• dews
  simple
• have dewed
  perfect
• has dewed
  perfect
• am dewing
  progressive
• are dewing
  progressive
• is dewing
  progressive
• have been dewing
  perfect progressive
• has been dewing
  perfect progressive

Past

• dewed
  simple
• had dewed
  perfect
• was dewing
  progressive
• were dewing
  progressive
• had been dewing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will dew
  simple
• will have dewed
  perfect
• will be dewing
  progressive
• will have been dewing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of dew

before 900; Middle English; Old English dēaw; cognate with German Tau, Old Norse dǫgg

Explanation

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

dew DEW dews dewed dewing

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

"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

“Pulsing Lifters,” in an arrangement for two pianos and harpsichord, is like a delicate dew.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 12, 2025

The dirt and grass beneath my feet are moist with dew, and there are even beads of water on the side of the tent.

From "King and the Dragonflies" by Kacen Callender

Elbit Systems, which supplies high-power laser systems for Israel’s Iron Beam, is the closest thing to a pure-play DEW beneficiary among publicly traded defense firms.

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

DEW stands for directed energy weapons — which use technology like high-energy lasers instead of projectiles like bullets.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 1, 2023

Professor DEW, now President of the University of William and Mary, Virginia, in his Review of the Debate in the Virginia Legislature, 1831-2, says, p 49.

From The Anti-Slavery Examiner, Part 3 of 4 by American Anti-Slavery Society

While the groups that attacked Javits professed to reflect the dews of U.S.

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

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

He stooped to remove his shoes, damp with the heavy dews of pasture and field.

From "Across Five Aprils" by Irene Hunt

To joust through life as at a pleasure tournament and when the dews of death dampen the forehead to call on God in your extremity seemed to this eloquent divine an act of slinking cowardice.

From Unicorns by James Huneker

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

The sky is pale blue there, dewed with yellow.

From "The Inquisitor's Tale" by Adam Gidwitz

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

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

Their corners were vague, their facades streaked, dewed, smeared.

From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin

Sadly not, for the dewing is done by sprinklers, and the baby is alone.

From The New Yorker ● Apr. 5, 2019

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 George W. Gage

I could see the lips whitening and drying, the forehead dewing with tiny beads of perspiration.

From The Sixth Sense A Novel by Stephen McKenna

"I say, Capting," said a tall Yankee in a fur hat, to Peter, "what may yew calculate dewing on Long Island?"

From Red, White, Blue Socks, Part First Being the First Book by Sarah L. Barrow

Captain West spoke to the mate, who bawled the order along, and the watch, reinforced by the watch below, began dewing up the mainsail and foresail and climbing into the rigging.

From The Mutiny of the Elsinore by Jack London