slew
1 Americanverb
noun
-
slews
plural
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
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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.
See Examples For:
While most of his career was spent onstage, you’ll find his name in the credits of many films and shows and hear his baritone in a slew of video games and animated work.
From Salon ● Oct. 30, 2026
Since the summer, companies including Google have bid $10 million or more in exchange for old emails, operating data and a slew of other information from Spirit Airlines, which went bankrupt last year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026
Carter ruled following a 3½-hour hearing Tuesday, where a slew of attorneys for the state, county and independent voting rights groups argued against the administration’s demands.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2026
Meta has faced a slew of lawsuits in recent months.
From Barron's ● Oct. 21, 2026
The Knight of Flowers could not have reached his second name day when Robert slew Prince Rhaegar on the Trident.
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
For manager Brian Epstein, the very notion of the Beatles performing in any venue with slews of empty seats was a non-starter.
From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2025
Tourism on the whole is increasing, bringing slews of strangers to the idyllic island off the Washington coast.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 4, 2023
Webb is a big telescope, so it slews slower than the minute hand on a clock.
From Scientific American ● Jul. 11, 2022
There remains No. 1 Naomi Osaka, the defending champion who romped through Williams here last year in a noisy final, but the rest of the field lacks for slews of Grand Slam moments.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 1, 2019
Growned folks have whole slews of ways of crushing your spirits if you’re young.
From "Elijah of Buxton" by Christopher Paul Curtis
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
