ewe
noun
a female sheep, especially when fully mature.
ewe
1 American
[yoo, yoh]
/ ju, joʊ /
noun
-
ewes
plural
Ewe
2
American
[ay-vay, ay-way]
/ ˈeɪ veɪ, ˈeɪ weɪ /
noun
-
a member of a people of Togo and Ghana, in western Africa.
-
the Kwa language spoken by the Ewe people.
ewe
1
British
/ juː /
noun
Ewe
2
British
/ ˈɛwɛ /
noun
-
a member of a Negroid people of W Africa living chiefly in the forests of E Ghana, Togo, and Benin
-
the language of this people, belonging to the Kwa branch of the Niger-Congo family
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of ewe
First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English ēowu, ēwe; cognate with Old High German ou, ouwi, Dutch ooi, Latin ovis, Greek óïs, oîs, Sanskrit ávi
Explanation
At last, a word that means only one thing. A ewe is a female sheep. That is what a ewe is. Most people have precious few opportunities to use the word ewe. For most of us, it's most valuable as a three-letter word for crossword puzzles. For example: 1-down: a three-letter word meaning female sheep. Answer? Ewe! Also, if you're an avid Scrabble player, ewe is a good word to keep up your sleeve. That "W" can rake in some serious points if you put it on a triple-word space. Finally, punster's will enjoy using ewe in a sentence like “you and I will go see the ewe and him” — which has the two of us going to see some guy and his female sheep.
Vocabulary lists containing ewe
Back-Words: Palindromes
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Essential Three-Letter Words, Part 4
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Scrabble: Palindrome Words
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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:
My brothers were particularly fond of one wooden ewe mounted on wheels, which gave her the jaunty appearance of a sheep who had recently discovered skateboarding.
From Salon ● Aug. 31, 2026
Jill Turner, from Brora, was convinced it was the same ewe she had seen about two years before and its plight quickly captured the world's attention.
From BBC ● Feb. 15, 2026
At the opposite extreme is Scotland's Soay sheep, with just 0.6% full siblings because each ewe mates with multiple rams.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 22, 2026
The embryos were later implanted in a ewe, resulting in a pure Marco Polo argali sheep that Schubert named “Montana Mountain King,” the documents show.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 13, 2024
They wrestled with a pregnant ewe that bleated and tried to jerk her manure-stained hind legs from their hands.
From "Ceremony:" by Leslie Marmon Silko
"Ewe can't count Jez", writes the Daily Star, reporting Jeremy Clarkson has been "left red-faced" after police informed the television personality that he had miscounted the number of sheep in his fields.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
Ewe Whey Vodka is currently only available at farmers' markets or direct from Bryn and Rebecca's farm, although they are hoping to have online sales available in time for Mothers' Day.
From BBC ● Mar. 11, 2022
His father was a Scottish businessman, and his mother was from Ghana’s Ewe ethnic group.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 12, 2020
One Embraceable Ewe, Jenilee Harrison, has been on “CHiPs” and looks enough like Suzanne Somers that maybe she’ll join the cast of “Three’s Company” someday.
From New York Times ● Feb. 1, 2019
Afi, still chained next to her, quietly began to hum an old Ewe song.
From "Copper Sun" by Sharon M. Draper
That also explains why, and how, his devoted rams, lambs and ewes are able to dedicate themselves to solving his murder.
From Salon ● May 17, 2026
The ewes give birth on the U.S. side in the winter and spring, then cross into Mexico to seek water in the punishing summer.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 1, 2026
David Thornley claims 25 of his 100 ewes lost their valuable pedigree lambs after drinking from Diseworth Brook in Leicestershire in 2022.
From BBC ● May 10, 2025
At the desert lab that day, the wildlife team sampled five bighorn rams and seven ewes.
From Science Magazine ● Apr. 29, 2024
A group of ewes grazed among the rocks as though they couldn’t be bothered to watch.
From "The House of the Scorpion" by Nancy Farmer
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
