strew
/stɹuː/US/stɹu/
strew verb: to distribute objects or pieces of something over an area, especially in a random manner.
Verb
strew (third-person singular simple present strews, present participle strewing, simple past strewed, past participle strewn or strewed)
- To distribute objects or pieces of something over an area, especially in a random manner.
- to strew sand over a floor
- The files had been strewn all over the floor.
- To cover, or lie upon, by having been scattered.
- Leaves strewed the ground.
- The snow which does the top of Pindus strew.1596, Edmund Spenser, Prothalamion
- To spread abroad; to disseminate.
- She may strew dangerous conjectures.c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac...
- To populate with at random points; to cause to appear randomly distributed throughout.
- error-strewn
strew meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Telugu
strew in Tamil
- to strew
- கலை kalai
- to strew or offer flowers in worship
- தூவு tūvu
- to strew, scatter, sprinkle
- தெளி teḷi
strew in Urdu
- بکھیرنا, چھڑکنا
strew in Bengali
- strew, scatter
- ছড়ানো choṛanō
strew in Telugu
- to distribute objects or pieces of something
- వెదజల్లు vedajallu
More languagesFewer languages
- strew in Malayalam
- തൂകുക tūkuka
- strew in Kannada
- ಚದರು, ಹರಡು, ಬೀರು, ಚೆಲ್ಲು
- strew in Sanskrit
- स्तृणोति stṛṇoti, स्तृनाति stṛnāti
- strew in Indonesian
- menyebar, menebar
- strew in Persian
- افشاندن afšândan
Examples of strew in a sentence
- Sweet flower, with flowers thy bridal bed I strew.c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, &...
- And strewed his mangled limbs about the field.1697, Virgil, “Georgics”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […]...
- On a principal table a desk was open and many papers strewn about.1880, [Benjamin Disraeli], Endymion […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Longmans, Green, and Co., →OCLC:
- Is thine alone the seed that strews the plain?1733, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Man. […], (please specify |epistle=I to IV), London: […] J[ohn] Wilford, […], →OCLC:
Synonyms of strew
Forms of strew
| third-person singular present | strews |
|---|---|
| present participle | strewing |
| past | strewed |
| past participle | strewn |
| past participle | strewed |
| alternative form (dialectal) | strow |
| alternative form (dialectal) | straw |
Origin of strew
From Middle English strewen, strawen, streowen, from Old English strewian, strēawian, strēowian (“to strew, scatter”), from Proto-West Germanic *strauwjan, from Proto-Germanic *strawjaną (“to strew”), from Proto-Indo-European *strew- (“to spread, scatter”). Cognate with Scots strow, straw (“to strew”), West Frisian streauwe (“to strew”), Dutch strooien (“to strew, scatter, sprinkle”), German streuen (“to strew, scatter”), Swedish strö (“to strew”), Icelandic strá (“to strew”), Norwegian Nynorsk strå (“to strew”).
Words formed from strew
Words that rhyme with strew
Questions about strew
- What does strew mean?
- Strew means to distribute objects or pieces of something over an area, especially in a random manner.
- What is strew in Tamil?
- Strew in Tamil is கலை (kalai), தூவு (tūvu), தெளி (teḷi). See Strew meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use strew in a sentence?
- Sweet flower, with flowers thy bridal bed I strew.
- What part of speech is strew?
- Strew is a verb.
- How do you pronounce strew?
- Strew is pronounced /stɹuː/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of strew?
- The past tense of strew is strewed.
Words near strew in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: strew (page history and authors); கலை (Tamil) (page history and authors); strew (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ছড়ানো (Bengali) (page history and authors); തൂകുക (Malayalam) (page history and authors); strew (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-strew.wav.
Cite this entry: “strew.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/strew. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.