Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Mew?

\Mew\, n. [AS. m?w, akin to D. meeuw, G. m["o]we, OHG. m?h, Icel. m[=a]r.] (Zo["o]l.) A gull, esp. the common British species ({Larus canus}); called also {sea mew}, {maa}, {mar}, {mow}, and {cobb}.
\Mew\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Mewed}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Mewing}.] [OE. muen, F. muer, fr. L. mutare to change, fr. movere to move. See {Move}, and cf. {Mew} a cage, {Molt}.] To shed or cast; to change; to molt; as, the hawk mewed his feathers. Nine times the moon had mewed her horns. --Dryden.
\Mew\, v. i. To cast the feathers; to molt; hence, to change; to put on a new appearance. Now everything doth mew, And shifts his rustic winter robe. --Turbervile.
\Mew\, n. [OE. mue, F. mue change of feathers, scales, skin, the time or place when the change occurs, fr. muer to molt, mew, L. mutare to change. See 2d {Mew}.] 1. A cage for hawks while mewing; a coop for fattening fowls; hence, any inclosure; a place of confinement or shelter; -- in the latter sense usually in the plural. Full many a fat partrich had he in mewe. --Chaucer. Forthcoming from her darksome mew. --Spenser. Violets in their secret mews. --Wordsworth. 2. A stable or range of stables for horses; -- compound used in the plural, and so called from the royal stables in London, built on the site of the king's mews for hawks.
\Mew\, v. t. [From {Mew} a cage.] To shut up; to inclose; to confine, as in a cage or other inclosure. More pity that the eagle should be mewed. --Shak. Close mewed in their sedans, for fear of air. --Dryden.
\Mew\, v. i. [Of imitative origin; cf. G. miauen.] To cry as a cat. [Written also {meaw}, {meow}.] --Shak.
\Mew\, n. The common cry of a cat. --Shak.