mew

verb (mew, mews, mewed, mewing); noun (a mew, mews)

«mew» in the English dictionary: everyday and in Jewish tradition and Early Modern English — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

Everyday

The soft, high crying sound a cat or kitten makes; to make this sound. tree →
The cry of a gull or other bird, especially the mew gull (a kind of seagull). tree →
(mews, UK) A row of old stables in a city, now turned into houses, or a small street with such houses. tree →

In the lessons

In stories and everyday life, kittens mew when they are hungry; «miaow» or «meow» is the usual word for the sound. In the UK, a «mews» is a pretty, narrow street of small houses in cities like London. Phrases: mew softly, a mews house.

Examples

The kitten mewed for its mother. tree →
We heard a tiny mew from under the shed. tree →
Gulls mewed over the harbour. tree →
My aunt lives in a mews in London. tree →
The cat gave a sad little mew at the door. tree →
A mew gull is smaller than a herring gull. tree →
And then it mewed more than ever. tree →

Note

Regular verb: mewed, mewing. Compare: meow / miaow (louder, the usual word), purr (happy rumble), hiss (angry). «Mews» (street) is singular with an «s»: «a mews». Pronounced MYOO, like «mule» without the «l».

In Jewish tradition

Interpretation: Jewish law calls these birds unclean, so they are not kosher. The rabbis listed signs to tell which birds are allowed. In the primary lessons: In stories and everyday life, kittens mew when they are hungry; «miaow» or «meow» is the usual word for the sound. In the UK, a «mews» is a pretty, narrow street of small houses in cities like London. Phrases: mew softly, a mews house.

Examples

and the ostrich, and the night-hawk, and the sea-mew, and the hawk after its kinds; (Torah LEV.11.16, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

Early Modern English

Meaning

In the Torah, a mew is a sea-gull, a seabird; in the fairy tales it is a cat's soft high cry. tree →

Then and now

Today it means only a cat's cry; the Torah sense (a sea-gull) is no longer used, and the fairy-tale sentences use the cat sense as today.

Examples

and the ostrich, and the night-hawk, and the sea-mew, and the hawk after its kinds; (Torah LEV.11.16, JPS 1917) tree →
And then it mewed more than ever. (The Book of Dragons) tree →
"Well, I should have mewed," said the kitchen-cat. (Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen) tree →

Note

Today: cat's cry (for the mew sense, seagull).

On Mova

Trees and pragmatics of «mew» in the school dictionary: every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
«mew» in the school dictionary on Mova free.
Trees and pragmatics of «mew» in the Judaism dictionary: every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
«mew» in the Judaism dictionary on Mova free.
Trees and pragmatics of «mew» in the Early Modern English dictionary: every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
«mew» in the Early Modern English dictionary on Mova free.

This page in Markdown → https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/mew/