Dictionary.com
definitions

mew

1
[myoo]
|
SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR mew ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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

verb (used without object)

to make a mew or emit a similar sound.

RELATED WORDS

fence, wall, bound, restrict, intern, wrap, circumscribe, encompass, imbue, veil, limit, pen, jail, circle, confine, impound, encircle, coop, blockade, hedge

Origin of mew

1
1275–1325; Middle English meuen; imitative
Can be confusedmews muse

mew

2
[myoo]

noun

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

Origin of mew

2
before 900; Middle English; Old English mǣwe; cognate with German Müwe
Also called mew gull.

mew

3
[myoo]

noun

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.
  1. (formerly) an area of stables built around a small street.
  2. a street having small apartments converted from such stables.

verb (used with object)

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

Origin of mew

3
1325–75; Middle English mue < Middle French, akin to muer to molt. See mew4

mew

4
[myoo]

verb (used with or without object)

to shed (feathers); to molt.

Origin of mew

4
1325–75; Middle English mewen < Old French muer to molt < Latin mūtāre to change
Related formsmew·er, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for mew

Historical Examples of mew

  • “Mew,” again said the cat; but again the prince did not heed him.

    Irish Fairy Tales

    Edmond Leamy

  • “Mew,” said the cat, as he sprang softly into the room; but the prince did not heed him.

    Irish Fairy Tales

    Edmond Leamy

  • So he turned himself into a cat, and began to mew outside the door.

    Russian Fairy Tales

    W. R. S. Ralston

  • "Mew," again said the cat; but again the prince did not heed him.

    The Golden Spears

    Edmund Leamy

  • "Mew," said the cat the third time, and he jumped up on the prince's knee.

    The Golden Spears

    Edmund Leamy

British Dictionary definitions for mew

mew

1

verb

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

noun

such a sound

Word Origin for mew

C14: imitative

mew

2

noun

any seagull, esp the common gull, Larus canusAlso called: mew gull, sea mew

Word Origin for mew

Old English mǣw; compare Old Saxon mēu, Middle Dutch mēwe

mew

3

noun

a room or cage for hawks, esp while moulting

verb

(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

C14: from Old French mue, from muer to moult, from Latin mūtāre to change

mew

4

verb

(intr) (of hawks or falcons) to moult
(tr) obsolete to shed (one's covering, clothes, etc)

Word Origin for mew

C14: from Old French muer to moult, from Latin mūtāre to change
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 mew
v.

"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.

n.1

"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.

n.2

"cage," c.1300, from Old French mue "cage for hawks, especially when molting," from muer "to molt," from Latin mutare "to change" (see mutable).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper