stew
1 Americanverb (used with object)
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stews,
present (3rd person singular)
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stewed,
past participle, past
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stewing
present participle
verb (used without object)
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stews,
present (3rd person singular)
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stewed,
past participle, past
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stewing
present participle
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to undergo cooking by simmering or slow boiling.
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Informal. to fret, worry, or fuss.
He stewed about his chaotic state of affairs all day.
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to feel uncomfortable due to a hot, humid, stuffy atmosphere, as in a closed room; swelter.
noun
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a preparation of meat, fish, or other food cooked by stewing, especially a mixture of meat and vegetables.
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Informal. a state of agitation, uneasiness, or worry.
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a brothel; whorehouse.
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stews, a neighborhood occupied chiefly by brothels.
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Obsolete. a vessel for boiling or stewing.
idioms
noun
noun
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a dish of meat, fish, or other food, cooked by stewing
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( as modifier )
stew pot
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informal a difficult or worrying situation or a troubled state (esp in the phrase in a stew )
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a heterogeneous mixture
a stew of people of every race
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archaic (usually plural) a brothel
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obsolete a public room for hot steam baths
verb
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to cook or cause to cook by long slow simmering
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informal (intr) to be troubled or agitated
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informal (intr) to be oppressed with heat or crowding
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to cause (tea) to become bitter or (of tea) to become bitter through infusing for too long
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to suffer unaided the consequences of one's actions
noun
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a fishpond or fishtank
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an artificial oyster bed
Synonym Usage
See boil 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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stewsimple
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stewssimple
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have stewedperfect
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has stewedperfect
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am stewingprogressive
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are stewingprogressive
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is stewingprogressive
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have been stewingperfect progressive
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has been stewingperfect progressive
Past
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stewedsimple
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had stewedperfect
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was stewingprogressive
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were stewingprogressive
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had been stewingperfect progressive
Future
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”; see origin at stove 1
Origin of stew2
An Americanism dating back to 1970–1975; shortening of steward ( def. ) or stewardess ( def. )
Explanation
To stew is to slowly cook food, which results in a soup-like food called a stew. To stew also means to brood angrily. If you cook something slowly, like beef or vegetables, you stew it. The result of stewing is also called stew, which is usually chunky, like a thick soup. People can stew in another way when it comes to emotions. If your sister sits and worries about something, she stews. The root of stew is the Old French estuver, "bathe or stew." Back in the fourteenth century, stew was also a slang word meaning "brothel or bath house."
Vocabulary lists containing stew
Blanch, Poach, and Scald: Cooking Methods
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As Brave as You
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"Familiar Places"
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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:
Not the exact recipe, but the form: toast, pasta, a frittata, a rice bowl, a substantial salad, perhaps a pot of soup or stew.
From Salon ● Aug. 4, 2026
Hales also told me about Burgoo, a slow-cooked Kentucky stew.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
Maradona and eventual champion Argentina eliminated England 2-1 in the quarterfinals of the 1986 World Cup, leaving the Brits to stew over their link to a soccer legend.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 4, 2026
With little energy available to disrupt it, the omega pattern can persist for days -- or weeks -- allowing heat to stew and temperatures to intensify beneath it.
From Barron's ● Jun. 23, 2026
Mama tasted the fish stew and aimed a tired smile at Anya.
From Anya and the Dragon by Sofiya Pasternack
When dried and salted, guitarfish is used in soups and stews across Ghana.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
In Burbank, family-run Tun Lahmajo delves into Armenian homestyle dishes, including flatbreads, cold salads, roasted meats, a range of soups and herbed stews.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026
Social-media creators have documented their own perpetual stews with names like “Stewtheus” and “Soupina.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
Lamb is often Muslim consumers' meat of choice for family occasions and festivals like Ramadan and Eid, while mutton is a popular ingredient in curries and stews.
From BBC ● Mar. 5, 2026
West Indian women stood by their pepperpot kettles stirring fragrant stews, while the hot corn girls walked up and down the street.
From "Fever 1793" by Laurie Halse Anderson
Newsom climbed from San Francisco mayor to lieutenant governor to California’s governorship, where he quietly stewed as Harris leapfrogged past him into the vice presidency.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 25, 2026
A little pasta water and a shower of Parmesan will turn blended squash, stewed greens, roasted red peppers — even broccoli — into something glossy and luxurious.
From Salon ● Feb. 18, 2026
As he stewed, Tesla’s rivals have been preparing for a robot future of their own.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 8, 2025
The idea came from dinner at Le Bouchon, where they serve a winter cheesecake with stewed fruit and — yes — granola.
From Salon ● Oct. 23, 2025
They made stewed meats and boiled potatoes in the kitchen.
From "Genuine Fraud" by E. Lockhart
Scurries, the high-school band director, was stewing over the data center in January.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
There’s comfort in sitting and stewing in your discontent.
From Salon ● May 30, 2026
It was a sweltering July afternoon last year and Redmond was sitting on the sofa in her Hollywood home stewing over how AI was nearly putting her out of business.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 27, 2026
"I wrote it on Monday because I'd been stewing in anger about ICE," Terrell posted on Instagram, adding he was stunned by the reception it received.
From Barron's ● Jan. 29, 2026
In a glass jar on a shelf my mother kept a big brown hand with pointed claws stewing in alcohol and herbs.
From "The Woman Warrior" by Maxine Hong Kingston
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.
