mew

CEFRC2

/ˈmjuː/

verb · noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    verb

    To make the soft sound of a young cat.

  2. 02

    verb

    Extra detail

    A hiding place; a secret store or den.

Examples

  • The cats next door mew a lot.

  • The cat continued to mew.

At a glance

Sits at C2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5

Also pronounced

  • [ˈmjʊu̯]

Deep Dive

verb

Extra meaning

  1. A prison, or other place of confinement.

noun

Extra meanings

  1. A gull, seagull.

  2. A cage for hawks, especially while moulting.

More examples

In context

  • The hawk mewed his feathers.

  • 1693, John Dryden (translator), The Satires of Juvenal, London: Jacob Tonson, Satire 1, p. 10, […] Nay some have learn’d the trick To beg for absent persons; feign them sick, Close mew’d in their Sedans, for fear of air:

  • Darren James Mew

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The hungry kitten let out a soft blank from behind the door.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

verb

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”).