strew
Americanverb (used with object)
-
strews,
present (3rd person singular)
-
strewed,
past participle, past
-
strewn,
past participle
-
strewing
present participle
-
to let fall in separate pieces or particles over a surface; scatter or sprinkle.
to strew seed in a garden bed.
- Synonyms:
- broadcast
-
to cover or overspread (a surface, place, etc.) with something scattered or sprinkled.
to strew a floor with sawdust.
-
to be scattered or sprinkled over (a surface).
Sawdust strewed the floor.
-
to spread widely; disseminate.
to strew rumors among the troops.
verb
Synonym Usage
See sprinkle.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
strewsimple
-
strewssimple
-
have strewedperfect
-
have strewnperfect
-
has strewedperfect
-
has strewnperfect
-
am strewingprogressive
-
are strewingprogressive
-
is strewingprogressive
-
have been strewingperfect progressive
-
has been strewingperfect progressive
Past
-
strewedsimple
-
had strewedperfect
-
had strewnperfect
-
was strewingprogressive
-
were strewingprogressive
-
had been strewingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of strew
First recorded before 1000; Middle English strewen, Old English strewian; cognate with German streuen, Old Norse strā, Gothic straujan; akin to Latin sternere “to spread” ( see stratum)
Explanation
When you strew something, you scatter it all over the place. At a wedding, for example, the flower child's job is to strew the path with petals. One of the scariest parts of The Wizard of Oz is when the winged monkeys pounce on the Scarecrow and strew his insides all over the forest floor. Strewn is a more common form of the word, as in “after the tornado, the farm was strewn with debris.”
Vocabulary lists containing strew
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The Diary of Anne Frank
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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.
See Examples For:
A large section of the building facade is missing along its roofline, with rubble strew across the road below.
From BBC ● May 1, 2023
Disturbed by statistics on Italian emigration that swelled to 84,000 in 1884 alone, Scalabrini wrote that the mass emigration and separation of families would “help strew white the lands of America with their bones.”
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 9, 2022
The interior of the Subaru looked like a college dorm room at the end of finals — food wrappers, half-packed bags and road strew cluttering every quadrant.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 25, 2022
Breaking waves strew driftwood along beaches reached by hiking trails that require consulting a tide chart.
From New York Times ● Aug. 26, 2019
So I offered to fetch fresh lavender to strew in Gertrude’s bedchamber, and that night I knelt again on the ground, gathering the silvery, purple-tipped fronds of lavender into my arms.
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
Those who go in knowing the outcomes of the AEC proceedings and Strauss’ Cabinet bid will see past the red herrings that Nolan occasionally strews across the path of history.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 19, 2023
Her descriptions of food, decor, and clothing are precise: the way Kristin strews juniper and flowers on the floor to prepare for guests, and her blue-violet leather shoes “stitched with silver and rose-color stones.”
From Slate ● Jan. 11, 2017
Among the best reasons to come to “The Art of Contoversy” is that as it rolls along, Mr. Navasky strews, like breadcrumbs, a minimemoir of his own busy life and times.
From New York Times ● May 23, 2013
In Act 2, rubble from the wrecked proscenium strews the stage, the remnants of the Minstrels' Hall in the Wartburg castle, where Tannhaeuser takes part in a song contest.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 13, 2010
The wind strews no branches under a hickory tree, for the fibres of the wood are strong and flexible enough to resist a hurricane.
From Trees Worth Knowing by Julia Ellen Rogers
Mud and rocks had exploded through their garage, leaving its contents strewed down the hill in the grime filling the mouths of storm drains.
From New York Times ● Feb. 5, 2024
Elvis' actual house is smaller than you'd think and kinda gives off grandpa vibes with the overly carpeted rooms and hallways, and bric-a-brac strewed about.
From Salon ● Jan. 22, 2023
The stage: just a shelf strewed with rubble.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 28, 2022
“He left the field strewed with Army tacklers who had a shot at him and came up empty-handed,” sports columnist Shirley Povich wrote in The Post.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 30, 2019
Rosaleen let me bring it home, right into the living room, where I strewed a box of Quaker Oats on the floor for it to eat and she didn’t raise a word of protest.
From "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd
Inside, they discovered several phones strewn around the back seat, with others on the floor wrapped in foil.
From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026
The speech was strewn with falsehoods that must have appalled even sympathetic listeners in the chamber.
From Slate ● Sep. 22, 2026
Homendy said she walked the path of destruction, seeing the tire marks cut through the grass outside the runway—and navigation equipment, air bags and fencing strewn over the area.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 7, 2026
The dogs’ sleeping quarters are modeled after the park’s Pirates of the Caribbean ride, with its fort-like corridors made of sun-dried brick, the walls strewn with overgrown jungle vines.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
Little white spots blurred her vision, but it didn't stop her determined hands from gathering the chaos of items strewn all over the floor.
From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton
The Hercules aircraft went down shortly after departure from Puerto Leguizamo, near the southern border with Ecuador, strewing burning wreckage on the jungle floor.
From Barron's ● Mar. 23, 2026
The storm brought fierce winds and drove surging seawater miles inland, strewing the area with fallen trees, power lines and debris.
From Reuters ● Aug. 31, 2023
Instead of just placing your gourds on your coffee table or strewing them about randomly through your space, think like a designer and take the opportunity to get a little creative.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 6, 2022
An infestation of bark beetles a few years ago killed a large number of drought-weakened trees, felling them and strewing their parched carcasses on the ground.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2021
When she came back from talking to the invisibilities, Brave Orchid saw that her sister was strewing the room.
From "The Woman Warrior" by Maxine Hong Kingston
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