mew1

[myoo] /myu/
noun
1.
the tiny, high-pitched sound a cat or kitten makes.
2.
the characteristic sound a gull makes.
verb (used without object)
3.
to make a mew or emit a similar sound.
Origin
1275-1325; Middle English meuen; imitative
Can be confused
mews, muse.

mew2

[myoo] /myu/
noun
1.
a small gull, Larus canus, of Eurasia and northwestern North America.
Also called mew gull.
Origin
before 900; Middle English; Old English mǣwe; cognate with German Müwe

mew3

[myoo] /myu/
noun
1.
a cage for hawks, especially while molting.
2.
a pen in which poultry is fattened.
3.
a place of retirement or concealment.
4.
mews, (usually used with a singular verb) Chiefly British.
  1. (formerly) an area of stables built around a small street.
  2. a street having small apartments converted from such stables.
verb (used with object)
5.
Archaic. to shut up in or as in a mew; confine; conceal (often followed by up).
Origin
1325-75; Middle English mue < Middle French, akin to muer to molt. See mew4

mew4

[myoo] /myu/
verb (used with object), verb (used without object)
1.
to shed (feathers); to molt.
Origin
1325-75; Middle English mewen < Old French muer to molt < Latin mūtāre to change
Related forms
mewer, noun
Examples from the web for mews
  • Some accommodations are in the main house, while other are in adjacent mews.
  • If money is no object, choices include mews cottages, waterfront studios or loft apartments in regency townhouses.
  • What is so strange is that she walks right up to both boys when they're paying no attention to her and mews.
  • Lakeshore mews is quickly becoming a hub of galleries and studios in the downtown area.
  • Also housed in the mews are the carriage horses used in royal ceremonial processions.
British Dictionary definitions for mews

mews

/mjuːz/
noun (functioning as singular or pl) (mainly Brit)
1.
a yard or street lined by buildings originally used as stables but now often converted into dwellings
2.
the buildings around a mews
3.
(informal) an individual residence in a mews
Word Origin
C14: pl of mew³, originally referring to royal stables built on the site of hawks' mews at Charing Cross in London

mew1

/mjuː/
verb
1.
(intransitive) (esp of a cat) to make a characteristic high-pitched cry
noun
2.
such a sound
Word Origin
C14: imitative

mew2

/mjuː/
noun
1.
any seagull, esp the common gull, Larus canus Also called mew gull, sea mew
Word Origin
Old English mǣw; compare Old Saxon mēu, Middle Dutch mēwe

mew3

/mjuː/
noun
1.
a room or cage for hawks, esp while moulting
verb
2.
(transitive) often foll by up. to confine (hawks or falcons) in a shelter, cage, etc, usually by tethering them to a perch
3.
to confine, conceal
Word Origin
C14: from Old French mue, from muer to moult, from Latin mūtāre to change

mew4

/mjuː/
verb
1.
(intransitive) (of hawks or falcons) to moult
2.
(transitive) (obsolete) to shed (one's covering, clothes, etc)
Word Origin
C14: from Old French muer to moult, from Latin mūtāre to change
Word Origin and History for mews
n.

"stables grouped around an open yard," 1630s, from Mewes, name of the royal stables at Charing Cross, built 1534 on the site of the former royal mews (attested from late 14c.), where the king's hawks were kept (see mew (n.2)). Extended by 1805 to "street of former stables converted to human habitations."

mew

v.

"make a sound like a cat," early 14c., mewen, of imitative origin (cf. German miauen, French miauler, Italian miagolare, Spanish maullar, and see meow). Related: Mewed; mewing. As a noun from 1590s.

n.

"seagull," Old English mæw, from Proto-Germanic *maigwis (cf. Old Saxon mew, Frisian meau, Middle Dutch and Middle Low German mewe, Dutch meeuw "gull"), imitative of its cry. Old French moue (Modern French mouette) and Lithuanian mevas are Germanic loan-words.

"cage," c.1300, from Old French mue "cage for hawks, especially when molting," from muer "to molt," from Latin mutare "to change" (see mutable).