mew

Noun (1)

mew (plural mews)

1. (archaic, dialectal, poetic) A gull, seagull.
   • A daungerous and detestable place,
     To which nor fish nor fowle did once approch,
     But yelling Meawes, with Seagulles hoarse and bace […]1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto XII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC
   • From helm to sea they saw him leap,
     As arrow from the string,
     And dive into the water deep,
     As mew upon the wing.1954, J. R. R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

Noun (2)

mew (plural mews)

1. (obsolete) A prison, or other place of confinement.
2. (obsolete) A hiding place; a secret store or den.
   • Ne toung did tell, ne hand these handled not, / But safe I haue them kept in secret mew, / From heauens sight, and powre of all which them pursew.1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC
3. (obsolete) A breeding-cage for birds.
4. A cage for hawks, especially while moulting.
   • A horse in a stable that never travels, a hawk in a mew that seldom flies, are both subject to diseases; which, left unto themselves, are most free from any such encumbrances.1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC
5. (in plural) A building or set of buildings where moulting birds are kept.

Verb (1)

mew (third-person singular simple present mews, present participle mewing, simple past and past participle mewed)

1. (archaic) To shut away, confine, lock up.
   • More pity that the eagle should be mew’d,
     While kites and buzzards prey at liberty.c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
   • To mew me in a Ship, is to inthrall
     Mee in a prison, that weare like to fall;c. 1596, John Donne, “Elegie XX: Loves Warre”, in Charles M. Coffin, editor, The Complete Poetry and Selected Prose of John Donne, New York: Modern Library, page 84
2. To moult.
   • The hawk mewed his feathers.
   • Their nakedneſſe with ſackcloth let them hide, / And mue the veſt'ments of their ſilken pride; […]1620, Fra[ncis] Quarles, “Sect[ion] 10”, in A Feast for Wormes. Set Forth in a Poeme of the History of Ionah, London: […] Felix Kyngston, for Richard Moore, […], →OCLC, signature H3, recto
3. (obsolete) To cause to moult.
4. (obsolete) To shed antlers.

Noun (3)

mew (plural mews)

1. The crying sound of a cat; a meow, especially of a kitten.
2. The crying sound of a gull or buzzard.
3. (obsolete) An exclamation of disapproval; a boo.

Verb (2)

mew (third-person singular simple present mews, present participle mewing, simple past and past participle mewed)

1. (especially) To meow.
2. To make its cry.

Interjection

1. A cat's (especially a kitten's) cry.
2. A gull's or buzzard's cry.
3. (archaic) An exclamation of disapproval; boo.

Verb (3)

mew (third-person singular simple present mews, present participle mewing, simple past and past participle mewed)

1. (intransitive, slang) To flatten one's tongue against the roof of the mouth, with the aim of improving jaw and facial structure.

Proper noun capitalized: Mew

IPA/mjuː/

Mew

1. A surname.
   • Darren James Mew