mews

British  

/ mjuːz /

noun

1. a yard or street lined by buildings originally used as stables but now often converted into dwellings

2. the buildings around a mews

3. informal an individual residence in a mews

---

Etymology

Origin of mews

C14: pl of _mew ³, originally referring to royal stables built on the site of hawks' mews at Charing Cross in London

Explanation

The word mews refers to a row of attached houses that often runs an entire block. Traditional mews have either been converted to housing from stables, or just built to appear that way. You'll find most mews in Britain (in the U.S. they're more likely to be called "townhouses" or "row houses"). The word mews originally referred to a row of horse stables with housing on the second floor, facing an open yard or alley. Today most mews are either these same stables converted entirely to living space, or new construction that mimics the old mews.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

mews

"Now, doesn't that look normal?" she mews to the studio audience as the camera zooms in on her creation.

From Salon ● May 16, 2023

Raspy grunts, high-pitched mews, guttural barks and the occasional roar bellowed toward my group of hikers at Año Nuevo State Park, a remote strip of coastal bluffs about 60 miles south of San Francisco.

From New York Times ● Mar. 16, 2023

It is one of four properties they are believed to own, including a four-bedroom mews house in London, where the couple have lived with their two daughters.

From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2022

Yet as he lay horizontally watching the show in his red bunk bed, those same yips and mews and zings never got old.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2021

A ceiling protected the mews from rain and snow, but more importantly from the wild hawks and owls for whom anything that moves is fair game.

From "Frightful's Mountain" by Jean Craighead George