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Synonyms

in a stew

Idioms  

  1. Agitated, alarmed, or anxious. For example, Mary was in a stew about how her cake was going to turn out. It is also put as, as in Every Saturday the minister got in a stew about Sunday's sermon. This expression transfers the mixture of meat and vegetables constituting a stew to overheated mixed emotions. [c. 1800]

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.

"I use it in most of our menus. It's terrific in a stew or spaghetti Bolognese, its umami flavour will honestly lift almost any dish."

From BBC • Apr. 14, 2023

I genuinely might have been fooled that it was an actual chunk of roast if it were in a stew or already shredded on a plate.

From The Verge • Aug. 25, 2022

What does all this mean for the big-picture goal of not cooking the Earth in a stew of carbon dioxide?

From Slate • Dec. 6, 2021

Unlike many industrial chemicals, enzymes work at relatively low temperatures and are choosy about which molecule they interact with—enabling an enzyme to target a single plastic in a stew of polymers.

From Science Magazine • Jul. 1, 2021

And as much as I loved holding a cottontail in my arms and rubbing its soft fur with my cheek, I loved it even more in a stew with a few carrots.

From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan

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.