stew

¹ American  

[stoo, styoo] / stu, stju /

verb (used with object)

• stews,
  present (3rd person singular)
• stewed,
  past participle,  past
• stewing
  present participle

1. to cook (food) by simmering or slow boiling.

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verb (used without object)

• stews,
  present (3rd person singular)
• stewed,
  past participle,  past
• stewing
  present participle

1. to undergo cooking by simmering or slow boiling.

2. Informal. to fret, worry, or fuss.

   He stewed about his chaotic state of affairs all day.

3. to feel uncomfortable due to a hot, humid, stuffy atmosphere, as in a closed room; swelter.

noun

1. a preparation of meat, fish, or other food cooked by stewing, especially a mixture of meat and vegetables.

   Synonyms:

   ragout, casserole

2. Informal. a state of agitation, uneasiness, or worry.

3. a brothel; whorehouse.

4. stews, a neighborhood occupied chiefly by brothels.

5. Obsolete. a vessel for boiling or stewing.

idioms

1. stew in one's own juice, to suffer the consequences of one's own actions.

stew ² American  

[stoo, styoo] / stu, stju /

noun

Slang.

1. a male or female flight attendant.

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stew ¹ British  

/ stjuː /

noun

1. 1. a dish of meat, fish, or other food, cooked by stewing

   2. ( as modifier )

      stew pot

2. informal a difficult or worrying situation or a troubled state (esp in the phrase in a stew )

3. a heterogeneous mixture

   a stew of people of every race

4. archaic (usually plural) a brothel

5. obsolete a public room for hot steam baths

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verb

1. to cook or cause to cook by long slow simmering

2. informal (intr) to be troubled or agitated

3. informal (intr) to be oppressed with heat or crowding

4. to cause (tea) to become bitter or (of tea) to become bitter through infusing for too long

5. to suffer unaided the consequences of one's actions

stew ² British  

/ stjuː /

noun

1. a fishpond or fishtank

2. an artificial oyster bed

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stew More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing stew

• in a stew

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Synonym Usage

See boil ¹.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• stewable
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• stewing
  present
• stewed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• stew
  simple
• stews
  simple
• have stewed
  perfect
• has stewed
  perfect
• am stewing
  progressive
• are stewing
  progressive
• is stewing
  progressive
• have been stewing
  perfect progressive
• has been stewing
  perfect progressive

Past

• stewed
  simple
• had stewed
  perfect
• was stewing
  progressive
• were stewing
  progressive
• had been stewing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will stew
  simple
• will have stewed
  perfect
• will be stewing
  progressive
• will have been stewing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of stew¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English steuen, stuwe “to take a sweat bath,” from Middle French estuver, verbal derivative of estuve “sweat room of a bath”; see origin at stove ¹

Origin of stew²

An Americanism dating back to 1970–1975; shortening of steward ( def. ) or stewardess ( def. )

Explanation

To stew is to slowly cook food, which results in a soup-like food called a stew. To stew also means to brood angrily. If you cook something slowly, like beef or vegetables, you stew it. The result of stewing is also called stew, which is usually chunky, like a thick soup. People can stew in another way when it comes to emotions. If your sister sits and worries about something, she stews. The root of stew is the Old French estuver, "bathe or stew." Back in the fourteenth century, stew was also a slang word meaning "brothel or bath house."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

stew stews stewed stewing

And at the end of a shift, he and his dysfunctional workplace family gather to share bowls of squid stew and taste the results of their work.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

Hales also told me about Burgoo, a slow-cooked Kentucky stew.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

With little energy available to disrupt it, the omega pattern can persist for days -- or weeks -- allowing heat to stew and temperatures to intensify beneath it.

From Barron's ● Jun. 23, 2026

Reviews for the show have been largely positive, with Empire describing it as "an utterly insane stew that somehow makes perfect sense".

From BBC ● May 27, 2026

He pulled a dish from his other side—a deep tureen with some kind of stew in it—and he said, “I think this is just vegetables.”

From Anya and the Nightingale by Sofiya Pasternack

When dried and salted, guitarfish is used in soups and stews across Ghana.

From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026

In Burbank, family-run Tun Lahmajo delves into Armenian homestyle dishes, including flatbreads, cold salads, roasted meats, a range of soups and herbed stews.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026

He says he cooks chillis and stews to take to work, avoids impulse purchases and tries to keep spending on a night out below £20.

From BBC ● Apr. 17, 2026

Sal stews morosely amid bursts of threatening belligerence that Sonny tries to tamp down.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 31, 2026

In our tenement there were families who spilled in and out of each other’s apartments, sharing child care and stews.

From "Orphan Train" by Christina Baker Kline

Newsom climbed from San Francisco mayor to lieutenant governor to California’s governorship, where he quietly stewed as Harris leapfrogged past him into the vice presidency.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 25, 2026

A little pasta water and a shower of Parmesan will turn blended squash, stewed greens, roasted red peppers — even broccoli — into something glossy and luxurious.

From Salon ● Feb. 18, 2026

A piece of herring—pickled, stewed or fried—constituted a weekday treat.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 16, 2026

Inside the shell as the smoke clears is stewed lamb over a cream-filled Japanese pancake.

From Salon ● Nov. 8, 2025

Sometimes they use the same tea leaves over and over and Mam says the tea is stewed, coddled and boiled.

From "Angela's Ashes: A Memoir" by Frank McCourt

I considered basting the tomatoes in butter and stewing them down with miso until soft and glossy.

From Salon ● Aug. 1, 2026

Authorities allege in their brief that he was stewing over being in the neighborhood of his ex-lover and listening to a French rap song that evoked images of fire in its music video.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 4, 2026

But Auriemma suggested that he’d been stewing since before the opening tipoff.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 4, 2026

"I wrote it on Monday because I'd been stewing in anger about ICE," Terrell posted on Instagram, adding he was stunned by the reception it received.

From Barron's ● Jan. 29, 2026

In the pot on the stove were scraps of cow bones stewing in hot bubbling broth.

From "Krik? Krak!" by Edwidge Danticat

Related Words

• boil
• fret
• fume
• seethe
• simmer