Tew

//tjuː// adv, name, noun, verb

adv, name, noun, verb ·Uncommon ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Prep work; labour. obsolete
  2. 2
    Fishing tackle; a rope or chain for towing a boat; a net. UK, dialectal, obsolete
  3. 3
    Trouble; worry. UK, dialectal, obsolete
  4. 4
    A cord; a string. UK, dialectal, obsolete
  5. 5
    Constant work; bustling; worry, excitement. US, dialectal
Verb
  1. 1
    To tow along, as a vessel.

    "By which the Danes had then their full-fraught Navies tew’d:"

  2. 2
    To prepare (leather, hemp, etc.) by beating or working; to taw.

    "It' I bequeath to Richard Smythe, of Steton, my best losyn sherte, a tewed bull skyn, a bushell of wheate, and a bushel of barlie."

  3. 3
    To beat; to scourge. broadly

    "with the king ran also Dyvers others, who all returning brought Cudgells and wandes in their hands all to be tewed, as if they had beaten him extreamly."

  4. 4
    To muddle; to mix up.

    "Within here, h'as made the gayest sport with Tom the Coachman, so tewed him up with Sack that he lies lashing a But of Malmsie for his Mares."

  5. 5
    To work at or worry.

    "The book was in town, I sent a Friend for it, who brought it to the governor: the priest tewed and turned it, but could not find any thing to prove his charge."

Show 3 more definitions
  1. 6
    To harangue or argue with.

    "You should have ta'en her then, turn'd her, and tewed her I' th' strength of all her resolution, flatter'd her, and shaked her stubborn will; she would have thank'd you, She would have loved you infinitely;"

  2. 7
    To tease; to vex or worry. Scotland, UK, dialectal, obsolete

    "but having received his orders early that morning from the trainer, accompanied with a warning not to suffer himself to be tewed (Yorkshire patois for worried) by anything Mr. Mellish might say, the sallow-complexioned lad walked about in the calm serenity of innocence"

  3. 8
    To work hard; to strive.

    "He 'le tug and tew, and strive and stoope to ought."

Adverb
  1. 1
    Pronunciation spelling of too alt-of, not-comparable, pronunciation-spelling

    "bollywood was tew good this year it was refreshing that it made it to my top genres"

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname.
  2. 2
    Alternative form of Tiu (the god Tyr). alt-of, alternative, rare

    "Frey and Tew were the chief gods of the Swedes and Franks, Thunder (Thórr) of the Reams and Throwends in West Norway."

Synonyms

All synonyms
aresathenabalderbragideitydonar

Example

More examples

"By which the Danes had then their full-fraught Navies tew’d:"

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English tewen, a variant of tawen (“to taw, prepare”). More at taw.

Etymology 2

Uncertain. Perhaps from an unrecorded Middle English *tewe, *teoȝ, from Old English *tēog (“utensil, tackle, rigging”), from Proto-West Germanic *teug, from Proto-Germanic *teugą (“gear, utensil”). If so, then cognate with West Frisian túch (“rigging, tackle”), Dutch tuig (“rigging, tackle”), German Zeug (“equipment, stuff”). More at toy.

Etymology 3

Two possible origins: * English habitational surname from the villages of Great, Little and Duns Tew, in Oxfordshire, all from Old English tīewe (“row; lenghty object”) or tīwe (“meeting place, court”). * Welsh nickname for a fat man, from Welsh tew (“plump”).

Etymology 4

Anglicisation of Old English Tīw from analogy with English Tuesday (Middle English Tewesday).

More for "tew"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.