slew1
- simple past tense of slay.
slew2
or slue
- a large number or quantity: a whole slew of people.
Origin of slew2
slew3
slew4
slay
- to kill by violence.
- to destroy; extinguish.
- sley.
- Slang.
- to impress strongly; overwhelm, especially by humor: Your jokes slay me.
- to make a strong impression with: She really slayed her performance last night.
- Obsolete. to strike.
- to kill or murder.
- Slang. to strongly impress or overwhelm someone: His whole album slays.
- sley.
Origin of slay
Synonyms
See more synonyms for slay on Thesaurus.comslue1
or slew
- to turn (a mast or other spar) around on its own axis, or without removing it from its place.
- to swing around.
- to turn about; swing around.
- the act of sluing.
- a position slued to.
Origin of slue1
sley
or slay, sleigh
- the reed of a loom.
- the warp count in woven fabrics.
- British. the lay of a loom.
- to draw (warp ends) through the heddle eyes of the harness or through the dents of the reed in accordance with a given plan for weaving a fabric.
Origin of sley
Examples from the Web for slew
Contemporary Examples
He says device makers also will have to meet a slew of security requirements: Can the device be encrypted?
Between her slew of appointments, Lennox manages to squeeze in enough time for no less than 40 different charities.
Apparently, Minaj received a slew of offensive tweets and rude Instagram comments in response to the racy image.
Afterwards, a slew of major NBA reporters did their best to quell the giddy, growing mob.
The park administration has embarked on a slew of tourist-luring projects.
Historical Examples
I strained a sinew on the day that I slew the three men at Castelnau.
The White CompanyArthur Conan Doyle
Therefore your lives are justly forfeit, and none would blame us if we slew you.
Fair MargaretH. Rider Haggard
He was my father, Sire, and I saw him slain—aye, and slew the slayer.
Fair MargaretH. Rider Haggard
The hound fell without a sound, and with equal ease he slew the second.
The Rock of ChickamaugaJoseph A. Altsheler
So they drove off the best of the cattle of the Sun and slew them.
Old Greek Folk Stories Told AnewJosephine Preston Peabody
slew1
- the past tense of slay
slew2
esp US slue
- to twist or be twisted sideways, esp awkwardlyhe slewed around in his chair
- nautical to cause (a mast) to rotate in its step or (of a mast) to rotate in its step
- the act of slewing
Word Origin
slew3
- a variant spelling (esp US) of slough 1 (def. 2)
slew4
slue
- informal, mainly US and Canadian a great number or amount; a lot
Word Origin
slue1
- a variant spelling (esp US) of slew 2
slue2
- a variant spelling of slough 1 (def. 2)
slue3
- US informal a variant spelling of slew 4
slay
- archaic, or literary to kill, esp violently
- slang to impress (someone) sexually
- obsolete to strike
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for slew
n.1
"swampy place," 1708, North American variant of slough.
v.
"to turn, swing, twist," 1834, earlier slue (1769), a nautical word, of unknown origin. Slewed (1801) is old nautical slang for "drunk." Slew-foot "clumsy person who walks with feet turned out" is from 1896.
n.2
"large number," 1839, from Irish sluagh "a host, crowd, multitude," from Celtic and Balto-Slavic *sloug- "help, service" (see slogan).
slay
v.
Old English slean "to smite, strike, beat," also "to kill with a weapon, slaughter" (class VI strong verb; past tense sloh, slog, past participle slagen), from Proto-Germanic *slahan, from root *slog- "to hit" (cf. Old Norse and Old Frisian sla, Danish slaa, Middle Dutch slaen, Dutch slaan, Old High German slahan, German schlagen, Gothic slahan "to strike"). The Germanic words are from PIE root *slak- "to strike" (cf. Middle Irish past participle slactha "struck," slacc "sword").
Modern German cognate schlagen maintains the original sense of "to strike." Meaning "overwhelm with delight" (mid-14c.) preserves one of the wide range of meanings the word once had, including, in Old English, "stamp (coins); forge (weapons); throw, cast; pitch (a tent), to sting (of a snake); to dash, rush, come quickly; play (the harp); gain by conquest."
slay
n.
"instrument on a weaver's loom to beat up the weft," Old English slæ, slea, slahae, from root meaning "strike" (see slay (v.)), so called from "striking" the web together. Hence the surname Slaymaker "maker of slays."