strew
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to let fall in separate pieces or particles over a surface; scatter or sprinkle.
to strew seed in a garden bed.
- Synonyms:
- broadcast
-
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.
verb
Synonym Usage
See sprinkle.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
strewsimple
-
strewssimple
-
have strewedperfect
-
have strewnperfect
-
has strewedperfect
-
has strewnperfect
-
am strewingprogressive
-
are strewingprogressive
-
is strewingprogressive
-
have been strewingperfect progressive
-
has been strewingperfect progressive
Past
-
strewedsimple
-
had strewedperfect
-
had strewnperfect
-
was strewingprogressive
-
were strewingprogressive
-
had been strewingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of strew
First recorded 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)
Explanation
When you strew something, you scatter it all over the place. At a wedding, for example, the flower child's job is to strew the path with petals. One of the scariest parts of The Wizard of Oz is when the winged monkeys pounce on the Scarecrow and strew his insides all over the forest floor. Strewn is a more common form of the word, as in “after the tornado, the farm was strewn with debris.”
Vocabulary lists containing strew
Unit 1: Telling Details
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The Diary of Anne Frank
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List 7
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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:
A large section of the building facade is missing along its roofline, with rubble strew across the road below.
From BBC ● May 1, 2023
Disturbed by statistics on Italian emigration that swelled to 84,000 in 1884 alone, Scalabrini wrote that the mass emigration and separation of families would “help strew white the lands of America with their bones.”
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 9, 2022
The interior of the Subaru looked like a college dorm room at the end of finals — food wrappers, half-packed bags and road strew cluttering every quadrant.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 25, 2022
Advancing age has done nothing but strew bouquets of honor, love and admiration on Plácido Domingo, L.A.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2016
So I offered to fetch fresh lavender to strew in Gertrude’s bedchamber, and that night I knelt again on the ground, gathering the silvery, purple-tipped fronds of lavender into my arms.
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
Then junior year comes along and strews the floor with trip wires that forces entire families to navigate them all in a fog of perpetual exhaustion and hastily prepared and erratically timed meals.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 13, 2023
Her descriptions of food, decor, and clothing are precise: the way Kristin strews juniper and flowers on the floor to prepare for guests, and her blue-violet leather shoes “stitched with silver and rose-color stones.”
From Slate ● Jan. 11, 2017
“Traveling Sprinkler,” like the ingenious lawn product that makes up its title, strews glistening droplets in an even spritz.
From New York Times ● Sep. 9, 2013
In Act 2, rubble from the wrecked proscenium strews the stage, the remnants of the Minstrels' Hall in the Wartburg castle, where Tannhaeuser takes part in a song contest.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 13, 2010
He surmounts extraordinary dangers, strews his way with miracles, raising the dead, healing the sick, restoring the maimed, the deaf and the blind, everywhere supporting the weak against the strong, the oppressed against the powerful.
Elvis' actual house is smaller than you'd think and kinda gives off grandpa vibes with the overly carpeted rooms and hallways, and bric-a-brac strewed about.
From Salon ● Jan. 22, 2023
There are no photos, no books, no papers strewed about on the white counter that serves as a desk.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 7, 2021
“He left the field strewed with Army tacklers who had a shot at him and came up empty-handed,” sports columnist Shirley Povich wrote in The Post.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 30, 2019
Inside the school playground, an armor-plated bulldozer scooped up debris, then strewed it over a space cleared in the center.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 11, 2019
Nelson raked a pan of cold ashes out of the stove, and together we strewed them all around the hard-pan-dirt yard outside the chicken house.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
When crews arrived, they found the vehicle destroyed with metal and glass strewn across the road.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
But moments later, the house fills with toys, siblings and couches strewn across the floor to protect from imaginary lava.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 16, 2026
As we leave the dilapidated compound, with books strewn across the floors of some classrooms, we spot a schoolgirl in uniform walking forlornly towards her home.
From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026
The full extent of the damage is still to be assessed, but photos and videos show debris strewn on the streets, while rescuers dig through the rubble of collapsed buildings to locate survivors.
From BBC ● Jun. 25, 2026
The hills were strewn with boulders and stunted cedars, all shimmering in the hazy air.
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
The Hercules aircraft went down shortly after departure from Puerto Leguizamo, near the southern border with Ecuador, strewing burning wreckage on the jungle floor.
From Barron's ● Mar. 23, 2026
The storm brought fierce winds and drove surging seawater miles inland, strewing the area with fallen trees, power lines and debris.
From Reuters ● Aug. 31, 2023
Instead of just placing your gourds on your coffee table or strewing them about randomly through your space, think like a designer and take the opportunity to get a little creative.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 6, 2022
An infestation of bark beetles a few years ago killed a large number of drought-weakened trees, felling them and strewing their parched carcasses on the ground.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2021
In the infinitesimal glow of the stars, the trees and flowers were strewing their cool odors.
From "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath
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.
