stew

¹ American  

[stoo, styoo] / stu, styu /

verb (used with object)

1. to cook (food) by simmering or slow boiling.

---

verb (used without object)

1. to undergo cooking by simmering or slow boiling.

2. Informal. to fret, worry, or fuss.

   He stewed about his chaotic state of affairs all day.

3. to feel uncomfortable due to a hot, humid, stuffy atmosphere, as in a closed room; swelter.

noun

1. a preparation of meat, fish, or other food cooked by stewing, especially a mixture of meat and vegetables.

   Synonyms:

   ragout, casserole

2. Informal. a state of agitation, uneasiness, or worry.

3. a brothel; whorehouse.

4. stews, a neighborhood occupied chiefly by brothels.

5. Obsolete. a vessel for boiling or stewing.

idioms

1. stew in one's own juice, to suffer the consequences of one's own actions.

stew ² American  

[stoo, styoo] / stu, styu /

noun

Slang.

1. a male or female flight attendant.

---

stew ¹ British  

/ stjuː /

noun

1. 1. a dish of meat, fish, or other food, cooked by stewing

   2. ( as modifier )

      stew pot

2. informal a difficult or worrying situation or a troubled state (esp in the phrase in a stew )

3. a heterogeneous mixture

   a stew of people of every race

4. archaic (usually plural) a brothel

5. obsolete a public room for hot steam baths

---

verb

1. to cook or cause to cook by long slow simmering

2. informal (intr) to be troubled or agitated

3. informal (intr) to be oppressed with heat or crowding

4. to cause (tea) to become bitter or (of tea) to become bitter through infusing for too long

5. to suffer unaided the consequences of one's actions

stew ² British  

/ stjuː /

noun

1. a fishpond or fishtank

2. an artificial oyster bed

---

stew More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing stew

• in a stew

---

Related Words

See boil ¹.

Other Word Forms

• stewable adjective

Etymology

Origin of stew¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English steuen, stuwe “to take a sweat bath,” from Middle French estuver, verbal derivative of estuve “sweat room of a bath”; stove ¹

Origin of stew²

An Americanism dating back to 1970–1975; shortening of steward ( def. ) or stewardess ( def. )

Example Sentences

Generally speaking, it’s more angular, more acid, more morbid, more willing to let a protagonist stew in misery, more suspicious of sentiment than our comparatively genial homegrown brand.

From Los Angeles Times

The summer hunting season has therefore gained importance, enabling Greenlanders to fill their freezers to get them through the winter months, he tells AFP over a steaming bowl of fish stew.

From Barron's

Many a pot of chicken noodle soup or beef stew has been quietly improved by a generous smear of white miso stirred in at the end.

From Salon

I would take the leaves home for Ma to cook delicious green soup or amadetsi, my favorite stew.

From Literature

A dryad brought him bread made from walnuts and a bowl of crushed apricots stewed with honey.

From Literature

Related Words

• boil
• fret
• fume
• seethe
• simmer