brew
Americanverb (used with object)
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brews,
present (3rd person singular)
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brewed,
past participle, past
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brewing
present participle
-
to make (beer, ale, etc.) by steeping, boiling, and fermenting malt and hops.
-
to make or prepare (a beverage, as tea) by mixing, steeping, soaking, or boiling a solid in water.
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to concoct, mix, or cook (a beverage or food, especially one containing unmeasured or unusual ingredients).
She brewed a pot of soup from the leftovers.
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to contrive, plan, or bring about.
to brew mischief.
verb (used without object)
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brews,
present (3rd person singular)
-
brewed,
past participle, past
-
brewing
present participle
-
to make a fermented alcoholic malt beverage, as beer or ale.
-
to boil, steep, soak, or cook.
Wait until the tea brews.
noun
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brews
plural
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a quantity brewed in a single process.
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a particular brewing or variety of malt liquor.
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a hot beverage made by cooking a solid in water, especially tea or coffee.
-
any concoction, especially a liquid produced by a mixture of unusual ingredients.
a witches' brew.
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Informal.
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beer or ale.
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an individual serving of beer or ale.
Let's have a few brews after the game.
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idioms
verb
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to make (beer, ale, etc) from malt and other ingredients by steeping, boiling, and fermentation
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to prepare (a drink, such as tea) by boiling or infusing
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(tr) to devise or plan
to brew a plot
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(intr) to be in the process of being brewed
the tea was brewing in the pot
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(intr) to be impending or forming
there's a storm brewing
noun
-
a beverage produced by brewing, esp tea or beer
a strong brew
-
an instance or time of brewing
last year's brew
-
a mixture
an eclectic brew of mysticism and political discontent
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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brewernoun
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rebrewverb
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misbrewverb (used with object)
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underbrewverb (used with object)
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unbrewedadjective
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well-brewedadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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brewsimple
-
brewssimple
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have brewedperfect
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has brewedperfect
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am brewingprogressive
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are brewingprogressive
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is brewingprogressive
-
have been brewingperfect progressive
-
has been brewingperfect progressive
Past
-
brewedsimple
-
had brewedperfect
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was brewingprogressive
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were brewingprogressive
-
had been brewingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of brew
before 900; Middle English brewen, Old English brēowan; akin to Dutch brouwen, German brauen, Old Norse brugga
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:
Whitmer Thomas takes a sip from his cold brew as he answers whether or not he feels like a “cool guy.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
So back to this Thursday, and I am surrounded by other happy honorees in a bubbling brew of crimson robes and black caps.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026
Time will tell how important that brew was.
From BBC ● Apr. 27, 2026
I always get the Andante, a cold brew with maple syrup, salted sweet cream foam, cacao powder and pink salt.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 3, 2026
The brew bubbles red and yellow, but the two colors do not blend.
From "Challenger Deep" by Neal Shusterman
A lot of that time has been spent figuring out how to boost a category lashed by shifts in spending and consumers being less prone to buy brews.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026
Blue Bottle, by comparison, is a higher-end brand associated with stylish cafes and relatively expensive brews.
From Barron's ● Jun. 1, 2026
Making their early brews from cobbled together kit in Martin's mum's garage, and then in a small industrial unit in Fraserburgh, they were undeterred by the early rejections they faced.
From BBC ● Mar. 6, 2026
Over canned cold brews in a West Hollywood hotel lounge, Moroney discussed her new record and the U.S. arena tour she’ll mount behind it this summer.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 25, 2026
From a recipe, old old, she brews this molten gold.
From "Beast Rider" by Tony Johnston & María Elena Fontanot de Rhoads
If successful, researchers could recreate the taste of Guinness as it was brewed in 1864 using samples of the recovered stout.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026
Freshly brewed coffee made from whole beans may contain very different caffeine levels compared to instant coffee, and preparation methods can also affect cholesterol levels.
From Science Daily ● May 13, 2026
Yasuo Yamamoto grew up playing among old barrels in the storehouse where his family has brewed soy sauce for more than 150 years.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 15, 2026
The finished product is indulgent and addictive, flavoring the humble chia seed with freshly brewed Thai tea, maple syrup and vanilla extract, alongside a dollop of homemade coconut whipped cream.
From Salon ● Mar. 31, 2026
Why didn’t the strong tea made of bitter bark, the tea that Nokomis brewed for Omakayas, send her jumping up lively as she used to be?
From "The Birchbark House" by Louise Erdrich
After Meta agreed on Wednesday to settle claims that it designed Facebook and Instagram to addict and harm young users, a debate is already brewing about whether this one qualifies.
From Slate ● Aug. 26, 2026
But experts expect the brewing dispute to end up in court.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
Beneath the surface, the conditions are brewing for a prolonged conflict—and possibly an even more intense one.
From Slate ● Aug. 17, 2026
The recent subdued action in crude belies a bigger problem brewing in refined products such as gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 16, 2026
In a democratic country you'd think there would be room for both of them, but computers won't rest until I'm making my ribbons from torn shirts and brewing Wite-Out in my bathtub.
From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris
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.
