slew
1 Americanverb
noun
verb
-
to twist or be twisted sideways, esp awkwardly
he slewed around in his chair
-
nautical to cause (a mast) to rotate in its step or (of a mast) to rotate in its step
noun
verb
noun
noun
Etymology
Origin of slew
1830–40, < Irish sluagh crowd, throng, army, host
Explanation
Of all the many nouns referring to a large group of things, one of the most fun is slew, as in "I saw a whole slew of birds in the tree by the river." American English is constantly evolving, its richness coming from the many languages feeding into it. The noun slew, for instance, is from the Irish Gaelic sluagh, meaning "multitude." As an unrelated verb, it's the past tense of slay.
Vocabulary lists containing slew
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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St. Patrick's Day Vocabulary: Words With Irish and Gaelic Roots
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The Watsons Go to Birmingham
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Experts have said the recent success of a California lawsuit arguing Meta and YouTube could be held liable for the addictive design of their platforms could open the door to a slew of similar complaints.
From BBC • May 12, 2026
Cloudflare joins a slew of companies that have cited AI while slashing their head counts.
From MarketWatch • May 7, 2026
Not only has a slew of HR complaints tempered her icy remarks, but slashed budgets and declining readership have forced her hand.
From Salon • May 6, 2026
Earnings season isn’t over yet, with another slew of major U.S. firms set to release quarterly results in the coming week.
From Barron's • May 3, 2026
‘One that you cannot slay with arrows,' said Gandalf. ‘You only slew his steed.
From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
