dew

[doo, dyoo] /du, dyu/
noun
1.
moisture condensed from the atmosphere, especially at night, and deposited in the form of small drops upon any cool surface.
2.
something like or compared to such drops of moisture, as in purity, delicacy, or refreshing quality.
3.
moisture in small drops on a surface, as tears or perspiration.
4.
Informal.
  1. Scotch whisky.
  2. mountain dew.
verb (used with object)
5.
to wet with or as with dew.
Origin
before 900; Middle English; Old English dēaw; cognate with German Tau, Old Norse dǫgg
Related forms
dewless, adjective
undewed, adjective
Can be confused
dew, do, due (see synonym study at do; see usage note at due)

DEW

[doo, dyoo] /du, dyu/
1.
distant early warning.
Compare DEW line.
Examples from the web for dew
  • Gnats were thought to be formed out of spots of dew on leaves.
  • Beads of dew cling to the florets that spiral inside a sunflower head.
  • The morning dew glistens off her abdomen, four eyes catching the sunrise to the east.
  • For humidity, it is actually the dew point that is of interest.
  • He was in no hurry to go anywhere with the dew still heavy in the air.
  • So it's plausible that lotus leaves take advantage of natural vibrations to retain their water repellency after dew forms on them.
  • One more drop of dew and this movie would have drowned.
  • Condensing the ammonia-water vapor is achieved by changing the mixture's dew point.
  • The best time to trim is after a rain or in the early morning when the plants are damp with dew.
  • Consolingly, there were honey-dew melons, soft-shell crabs and prime roasts of beef.
British Dictionary definitions for dew

dew

/djuː/
noun
1.
  1. drops of water condensed on a cool surface, esp at night, from vapour in the air
  2. (in combination): dewdrop
2.
something like or suggestive of this, esp in freshness: the dew of youth
3.
small drops of moisture, such as tears
verb
4.
(transitive) (poetic) to moisten with or as with dew
Word Origin
Old English dēaw; related to Old High German tou dew, Old Norse dögg
Word Origin and History for dew
n.

Old English deaw, from Proto-Germanic *dawwaz (cf. Old Saxon dau, Old Frisian daw, Middle Dutch dau, Old High German tau, German Tau, Old Norse dögg "dew"), from PIE root *dheu- (2) "to flow" (cf. Sanskrit dhavate "flows, runs").

dew in Science
dew
  (d)   
Water droplets condensed from the air, usually at night, onto cool surfaces near the ground. Dew forms when the temperature of the surfaces falls below the dew point of the surrounding air, usually due to radiational cooling. See also frost.
Slang definitions & phrases for dew

dew

noun

Marijuana (1960s+ Narcotics)

Related Terms

mountain dew


Related Abbreviations for dew

DEW

  1. directed energy weapon
  2. distant early warning
dew in the Bible

"There is no dew properly so called in Palestine, for there is no moisture in the hot summer air to be chilled into dew-drops by the coldness of the night. From May till October rain is unknown, the sun shining with unclouded brightness day after day. The heat becomes intense, the ground hard, and vegetation would perish but for the moist west winds that come each night from the sea. The bright skies cause the heat of the day to radiate very quickly into space, so that the nights are as cold as the day is the reverse, a peculiarity of climate from which poor Jacob suffered thousands of years ago (Gen. 31:40). To this coldness of the night air the indispensable watering of all plant-life is due. The winds, loaded with moisture, are robbed of it as they pass over the land, the cold air condensing it into drops of water, which fall in a gracious rain of mist on every thirsty blade. In the morning the fog thus created rests like a sea over the plains, and far up the sides of the hills, which raise their heads above it like so many islands. At sunrise, however, the scene speedily changes. By the kindling light the mist is transformed into vast snow-white clouds, which presently break into separate masses and rise up the mountain-sides, to disappear in the blue above, dissipated by the increasing heat. These are 'the morning clouds and the early dew that go away' of which Hosea (6:4; 13:3) speaks so touchingly" (Geikie's The Holy Land, etc., i., p. 72). Dew is a source of great fertility (Gen. 27:28; Deut. 33:13; Zech. 8:12), and its withdrawal is regarded as a curse from God (2 Sam. 1:21; 1 Kings 17:1). It is the symbol of a multitude (2 Sam. 17:12; Ps. 110:3); and from its refreshing influence it is an emblem of brotherly love and harmony (Ps. 133:3), and of rich spiritual blessings (Hos. 14:5).