slew

¹

[ sloo ]

verb

1. simple past tense of slay.

slew

²

or slue

[ sloo ]

noun

, Informal.

1. a large number or quantity:

   a whole slew of people.

slew

¹

/ sluː /

verb

1. See slay
   the past tense of slay

slew

²

/ sluː /

verb

1. to twist or be twisted sideways, esp awkwardly

   he slewed around in his chair

2. nautical to cause (a mast) to rotate in its step or (of a mast) to rotate in its step

noun

1. the act of slewing

slew

³

/ sluː /

noun

1. informal.
   a great number or amount; a lot

slew

⁴

/ sluː /

noun

1. See slough
   a variant spelling (esp US) of slough 1

Word History and Origins

Origin of slew¹

1830–40, Americanism; < Irish sluagh crowd, throng, army, host

Word History and Origins

Origin of slew¹

C18: of unknown origin

Origin of slew²

C20: from Irish Gaelic sluagh; related to Old Irish slōg army

Example Sentences

Lam is hoping for a slew of college acceptances come spring.

From Washington Post

A slew of riders warned him he was about to get attacked —and that Peloton would remove any of the negative comments later.

From Washington Post

This category has shaped up to be one of this year’s most prestigious, with a slew of veteran actors receiving nods.

From Washington Post

Udemy declined to confirm the new ARR total, instead opting to share a slew of other growth metrics to indicate growth, including the fact that it has seen more than 480 million course enrollments and owns over 155,000 courses.

From TechCrunch

Immediately, the team found a slew of neurons that surprisingly captured the distinction between internal beliefs and those of others.

From Singularity Hub 

He says device makers also will have to meet a slew of security requirements: Can the device be encrypted?

From The Daily Beast

Between her slew of appointments, Lennox manages to squeeze in enough time for no less than 40 different charities.

From The Daily Beast

Apparently, Minaj received a slew of offensive tweets and rude Instagram comments in response to the racy image.

From The Daily Beast

Afterwards, a slew of major NBA reporters did their best to quell the giddy, growing mob.

From The Daily Beast

This year, Glasgow is hosting the games amid a new slew of problems.

From The Daily Beast

This made Jahweh so angry that he smote the people, and slew more than fifty thousand of them.

From Project Gutenberg

The children of Israel, having been sent out by Jahweh to punish the Midianites, "slew all the males."

From Project Gutenberg

A detachment that had taken possession of Douglas's quarters at Lintalee he surprised at dinner and slew almost to a man.

From Project Gutenberg

And the flame of the fire slew those men that had cast in Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago.

From Project Gutenberg

Think of Samson, who slew a thousand Philistines with the jawbone of an ass!

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• abundance
• aggregation
• batch
• bunch
• bundle
• multiplicity
• plenty
• profusion
• ream
• scad