mew

¹ American  

[myoo] / myu /

noun

1. the tiny, high-pitched sound a cat or kitten makes.

2. the characteristic sound a gull makes.

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verb (used without object)

1. to make a mew or emit a similar sound.

mew ² American  

[myoo] / myu /

noun

1. a small gull, Larus canus, of Eurasia and northwestern North America.

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mew ³ American  

[myoo] / myu /

noun

1. a cage for hawks, especially while molting.

2. a pen in which poultry is fattened.

3. a place of retirement or concealment.

4. (usually used with a singular verb) mews,

   1. (formerly) an area of stables built around a small street.

   2. a street having small apartments converted from such stables.

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verb (used with object)

1. Archaic. to shut up in or as in a mew; confine; conceal (often followed byup ).

mew ⁴ American  

[myoo] / myu /

verb (used with or without object)

1. to shed (feathers); molt.

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mew ¹ British  

/ mjuː /

noun

1. a room or cage for hawks, esp while moulting

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verb

1. to confine (hawks or falcons) in a shelter, cage, etc, usually by tethering them to a perch

2. to confine, conceal

mew ² British  

/ mjuː /

verb

1. (intr) (esp of a cat) to make a characteristic high-pitched cry

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noun

1. such a sound

mew ³ British  

/ mjuː /

verb

1. (intr) (of hawks or falcons) to moult

2. obsolete (tr) to shed (one's covering, clothes, etc)

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mew ⁴ British  

/ mjuː /

noun

1. Also called: mew gull.   sea mew.  any seagull, esp the common gull, Larus canus

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Other Word Forms

• mewer noun

Etymology

Origin of mew¹

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English meuen; imitative

Origin of mew²

First recorded in before 900; Middle English; Old English mǣwe; cognate with German Müwe

Origin of mew³

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English mue, from Middle French, akin to muer “to molt”; mew ⁴

Origin of mew⁴

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English mewen, from Old French muer “to molt,” from Latin mūtāre “to change”

Example Sentences

Short-billed gulls, known as mew gulls until 2021, are omnivorous and highly adaptable.

From Science Daily • Jan. 23, 2024

I spent a good deal of my time at Owl Moon in and around the mew, where many of the hawks are held.

From New York Times • Sep. 19, 2022

Compact mew gulls, with their yellow legs and beaks, are abundant in winter along the shores of Puget Sound.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 20, 2019

As MDS expands into new cities and mew modes, it has the potential to transform relationships between local governments and the mobility companies they have struggled to regulate.

From Slate • Apr. 2, 2019

She’d hang around and mew at the door.

From "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood