strew
[stroo]
- to let fall in separate pieces or particles over a surface; scatter or sprinkle: to strew seed in a garden bed.
- to cover or overspread (a surface, place, etc.) with something scattered or sprinkled: to strew a floor with sawdust.
- to be scattered or sprinkled over (a surface): Sawdust strewed the floor.
- to spread widely; disseminate: to strew rumors among the troops.
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Origin of strew
before 1000; Middle English strewen, Old English strewian; cognate with German streuen, Old Norse strā, Gothic straujan; akin to Latin sternere to spread (see stratum)
Synonyms
See more synonyms for strew on Thesaurus.com1. broadcast. See sprinkle.
Antonyms
1. gather, reap.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for strew
Historical Examples
Dip each fish into the egg, and then strew them with bread crumbs.
Directions for Cookery, in its Various BranchesEliza Leslie
Powder the sugar, and strew it in layers between the slices of pine-apple.
Directions for Cookery, in its Various BranchesEliza Leslie
It would be impious to strew our mother's bones along the way.
Old Greek Folk Stories Told AnewJosephine Preston Peabody
Take the largest broad mushrooms, break them into an earthen pan, strew salt over, and stir them occasionally for three days.
Clean and wash some currants, and make them plump before the fire: then strew them over the syllabub, and it will be fit for use.
strew
- to spread or scatter or be spread or scattered, as over a surface or area
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Word Origin
Old English streowian; related to Old Norse strā, Old High German streuwen, Latin struere to spread
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for strew
v.
Old English streowian, from Proto-Germanic *straujanan (cf. Old Saxon stroian, Old Norse stra, Danish strø, Swedish strö, Middle Dutch strowen, Dutch strooien, Old High German strouwen, German streuen, Gothic straujan "to sprinkle, strew"), from PIE root *stere- "to spread, extend, stretch out" (see structure (n.)).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper