dew

[doo, dyoo]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR dew ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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.

verb (used with object)

to wet with or as with dew.

Origin of dew

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

Related formsdew·less, adjectiveun·dewed, adjective

Can be confuseddew do due

DEW

[doo, dyoo]

distant early warning.

Compare DEW line.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for dew

condensation

Examples from the Web for dew

Contemporary Examples of dew

Cars in the cross alley are covered with a silver glaze of dew.
Stanley Booth on the Life and Hard Times of Blues Genius Furry Lewis
Stanley Booth
June 7, 2014
But now I found myself enjoying it: the full moon, the sound of crickets, the long grass already wet from the evening dew.
My Parents' Brothel
Douglas Rogers
December 6, 2009

Historical Examples of dew

It looks as if the dew was on it; but the tears will not make it grow again—will they?
Philothea
Lydia Maria Child
Nonsense must have the dew on it, or it is good for nothing.
Malbone
Thomas Wentworth Higginson
She has faded away like a rainbow—like a drop of dew in the sun.
Green Mansions
W. H. Hudson
Not only all night, but all day, has the dew lain upon its purity.
The Works of Whittier, Volume V (of VII)
John Greenleaf Whittier
She was walking down a lane, her short skirts brushed by the morning dew.
Tiverton Tales
Alice Brown

British Dictionary definitions for dew

dew

noun

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 freshnessthe dew of youth

small drops of moisture, such as tears

verb

(tr) poetic to moisten with or as with dew

Word Origin for dew

Old English dēaw; related to Old High German tou dew, Old Norse dögg

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for dew

Old English deaw, from Proto-Germanic *dawwaz (cf. Old Saxon dau, Old Frisian daw, Middle Dutch dau, Old High German tau, German Tau, Old Norse dögg "dew"), from PIE root *dheu- (2) "to flow" (cf. Sanskrit dhavate "flows, runs").

dew in Science

dew

[dōō]

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.