FromMiddle English mewe mowe meau Old English mǣw Proto-West Germanic *maiwī Proto-Germanic *mai(h)waz ( “ seagull ” ) . See alsoWest Frisian meau ,miuw Dutch meeuw German Möwe Polish mewa maût ( “ to roar ” ) , Old Church Slavonicмꙑꙗти ( myjati ,“ to mew ” ) .
mew (plural mews
( archaic , poetic , dialectal ) gull ,seagull .1954 The Fellowship of the Ring :From helm to sea they saw him leap, / As arrow from the string, / And dive into the water deep, / Asmew upon the wing.
FromMiddle English mewe mue mwe Anglo-Norman mue muwe Middle French mue ( “ shedding feathers; cage for moulting birds; prison ” ) , frommuer ( “ to moult ” ) .
mew (plural mews
( obsolete ) prison , or other place of confinement.( obsolete ) hiding place ; a secret store or den.1590 Edmund Spenser , “Book II, Canto VII”, inThe Faerie Queene. [ … ] [ … ] [John Wolfe ] forWilliam Ponsonbie ,→OCLC Ne toung did tell, ne hand these handled not, / But safe I haue them kept in secretmew , / From heauens sight, and powre of all which them pursew.
( obsolete ) ( falconry ) hawks , especially whilemoulting .1624 Robert Burton ],The Anatomy of Melancholy: [ … ] [ … ] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps,→OCLC A horse in a stable that never travels, a hawk in amew that seldom flies, are both subject to diseases; which, left unto themselves, are most free from any such encumbrances.
( falconry , in theplural ) mew (third-person singular simple present mews present participle mewing simple past and past participle mewed
( archaic ) shut away ,confine ,lock up .c. 1593 (date written),William Shakespeare , “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: [ … ] ”, inMr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies [ … ] (First Folio ), London: [ … ] Isaac Iaggard , andEd[ ward] Blount , published1623 ,→OCLC [ Act I, scene i] :More pity that the eagle should bemew’d ,
c. 1596 John Donne , “Elegie XX: Loves Warre”, in Charles M. Coffin, editor,The Complete Poetry and Selected Prose of John Donne [2] 84 :Tomew me in a Ship, is to inthrall
1693 ,John Dryden (translator),TheSatires ofJuvenal , London: Jacob Tonson, Satire 1, p. 10,[3] [ …] Nay some have learn’d the trickTo beg for absent persons; feign them sick, Closemew’d in their Sedans, for fear of air: 1748 The Adventures of Roderick Random. :When it came to his turn to mention Sir John Sparkle, he represented him as a man of an immense estate and narrow disposition, whomewed up his only child, a fine young lady, from the conversation of mankind, under the strict watch and inspection of an old governante, who was either so honest, envious, or insatiable, that nobody had been as yet able to make her a friend, or get access to her charge, though numbers attempted it every day[ …]
( of a bird ) moult .The hawkmewed his feathers.
1620 Fra[ncis] Quarles , “Sect[ion] 10”, inA Feast for Wormes. Set Forth in a Poeme of the History ofIonah , London: [ … ] Felix Kyngston, for Richard Moore, [ … ] →OCLC signature H3, recto :Their nakedneſſe with ſackcloth let them hide, / Andmue the veſt'ments of their ſilken pride;[ …]
( of a bird, obsolete ) ( of a deer, obsolete ) antlers .FromMiddle English mewen onomatopoeic .
mew (plural mews
The crying sound of a cat; ameow , especially of a kitten. The crying sound of a gull or buzzard. ( obsolete ) boo crying sound of a cat
—see meow mew (third-person singular simple present mews present participle mewing simple past and past participle mewed
( of a cat, especially of a kitten ) meow .( of a gull or buzzard ) mew
A cat's (especially a kitten's) cry. A gull's or buzzard's cry. ( archaic ) An exclamation of disapproval; boo Named after Britishorthodontists John Mew and his son Michael Mew.[ 1]
mew (third-person singular simple present mews present participle mewing simple past and past participle mewed
( intransitive , slang ) flatten one'stongue against theroof of the mouth , with theaim ofimproving jaw andfacial structure . ^ Dream McClinton (2019 March 21) “Mewing: what is the YouTube craze that claims to reshape your face?”, inThe Guardian [1] mew
Alternative form ofmewe ( “ cage ” ) mew m
grape tree IPA (key ) : /ˈmɛf/ Rhymes:-ɛf Syllabification:mew mew f
genitive plural ofmewa mew
widower 
