mew
1- the tiny, high-pitched sound a cat or kitten makes.
- the characteristic sound a gull makes.
- to make a mew or emit a similar sound.
Origin of mew
1mew
2- a small gull, Larus canus, of Eurasia and northwestern North America.
Origin of mew
2mew
3- a cage for hawks, especially while molting.
- a pen in which poultry is fattened.
- a place of retirement or concealment.
- mews, (usually used with a singular verb) Chiefly British.
- (formerly) an area of stables built around a small street.
- a street having small apartments converted from such stables.
- Archaic. to shut up in or as in a mew; confine; conceal (often followed by up).
Origin of mew
3mew
4- to shed (feathers); to molt.
Origin of mew
4Related Words for mew
fence, wall, bound, restrict, intern, wrap, circumscribe, encompass, imbue, veil, limit, pen, jail, circle, confine, impound, encircle, coop, blockade, hedgeExamples from the Web for mew
Historical Examples of mew
“Mew,” said the cat, as he sprang softly into the room; but the prince did not heed him.
Irish Fairy TalesEdmond Leamy
“Mew,” again said the cat; but again the prince did not heed him.
Irish Fairy TalesEdmond Leamy
So he turned himself into a cat, and began to mew outside the door.
Russian Fairy TalesW. R. S. Ralston
"Mew," said the cat, as he sprang softly into the room; but the prince did not heed him.
The Golden SpearsEdmund Leamy
"Mew," again said the cat; but again the prince did not heed him.
The Golden SpearsEdmund Leamy
mew
1- (intr) (esp of a cat) to make a characteristic high-pitched cry
- such a sound
Word Origin for mew
mew
2- any seagull, esp the common gull, Larus canusAlso called: mew gull, sea mew
Word Origin for mew
mew
3- a room or cage for hawks, esp while moulting
- (tr often foll by up) to confine (hawks or falcons) in a shelter, cage, etc, usually by tethering them to a perch
- to confine, conceal
Word Origin for mew
mew
4- (intr) (of hawks or falcons) to moult
- (tr) obsolete to shed (one's covering, clothes, etc)
Word Origin for mew
Word Origin and History for mew
"make a sound like a cat," early 14c., mewen, of imitative origin (cf. German miauen, French miauler, Italian miagolare, Spanish maullar, and see meow). Related: Mewed; mewing. As a noun from 1590s.
"seagull," Old English mæw, from Proto-Germanic *maigwis (cf. Old Saxon mew, Frisian meau, Middle Dutch and Middle Low German mewe, Dutch meeuw "gull"), imitative of its cry. Old French moue (Modern French mouette) and Lithuanian mevas are Germanic loan-words.
"cage," c.1300, from Old French mue "cage for hawks, especially when molting," from muer "to molt," from Latin mutare "to change" (see mutable).