Mew

//mjuː// intj, name, noun, verb, slang

Definitions

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

    "Darren James Mew"

Noun
  1. 1
    A gull, seagull. archaic, dialectal, poetic

    "A daungerous and detestable place, To which nor fish nor fowle did once approch, But yelling Meawes, with Seagulles hoarse and bace […]"

  2. 2
    A prison, or other place of confinement. obsolete
  3. 3
    The crying sound of a cat; a meow, especially of a kitten.
  4. 4
    the common gull of Eurasia and northeastern North America wordnet
  5. 5
    A hiding place; a secret store or den. obsolete

    "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."

Show 6 more definitions
  1. 6
    The crying sound of a gull or buzzard.
  2. 7
    the sound made by a cat (or any sound resembling this) wordnet
  3. 8
    A breeding-cage for birds. obsolete
  4. 9
    An exclamation of disapproval; a boo. obsolete
  5. 10
    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."

  6. 11
    A building or set of buildings where moulting birds are kept. in-plural
Verb
  1. 1
    To shut away, confine, lock up. archaic

    "More pity that the eagle should be mew’d, While kites and buzzards prey at liberty."

  2. 2
    To meow. especially
  3. 3
    To flatten one's tongue against the roof of the mouth, with the aim of improving jaw and facial structure. intransitive, slang
  4. 4
    cry like a cat wordnet
  5. 5
    To moult.

    "The hawk mewed his feathers."

Show 4 more definitions
  1. 6
    To make its cry.
  2. 7
    utter a high-pitched cry, as of seagulls wordnet
  3. 8
    To cause to moult. obsolete
  4. 9
    To shed antlers. obsolete

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English mewe, mowe, meau, from Old English mǣw (“seagull”), from Proto-West Germanic *maiwī, from Proto-Germanic *mai(h)waz (“seagull”). See also West Frisian meau, miuw, Dutch meeuw, German Möwe (whence Polish mewa); akin to Latvian maût (“to roar”), Old Church Slavonic мꙑꙗти (myjati, “to mew”).

Etymology 2

From Middle English mewe, mue, mwe, from Anglo-Norman mue, muwe, and Middle French mue (“shedding feathers; cage for moulting birds; prison”), from muer (“to moult”).

Etymology 3

From Middle English mewe, mue, mwe, from Anglo-Norman mue, muwe, and Middle French mue (“shedding feathers; cage for moulting birds; prison”), from muer (“to moult”).

Etymology 4

From Middle English mewen; onomatopoeic.

Etymology 5

From Middle English mewen; onomatopoeic.

Etymology 6

From Middle English mewen; onomatopoeic.

Etymology 7

Named after British orthodontists John Mew and his son Michael Mew.

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