Adjacent Words

Strew definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

STREW, v.t. [This verb is written straw, strew, or strow; straw is nearly obsolete, and strow is obsolescent. Strew is generally used.]
1. To scatter; to spread by scattering; always applied to dry substances separable into parts or particles; as, to strew seed in beds; to strew sand on or over a floor; to strew flowers over a grave.
2. To spread by being scattered over.
The snow which does the top of Pindus strew.
Is thine alone the seed that strews the plain?
3. To scatter loosely.
And strewd his mangled limbs about the field.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: spread by scattering ("straw" is archaic); "strew toys all over the carpet" [syn: strew, straw]
2: cover; be dispersed over; "Dead bodies strewed the ground"

Merriam Webster's

transitive verb (strewed; strewed or strewn; strewing) Etymology: Middle English strewen, strowen, from Old English strewian, str?owian; akin to Old High German strewen to strew, Latin struere to heap up, sternere to spread out, Greek stornynai Date: before 12th century 1. to spread by scattering 2. to cover by or as if by scattering something <strewing the highways with litter> 3. to become dispersed over as if scattered 4. to spread abroad ; disseminate

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.tr. (past part. strewn or strewed) 1 scatter or spread about over a surface. 2 (usu. foll. by with) spread (a surface) with scattered things. Derivatives: strewer n. Etymology: OE stre(o)wian

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Strew Strew, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Strewed; p. p. strewn; p. pr. & vb. n. Strewing.] [OE. strewen, strawen, AS. strewian, stre['o]wian; akin to Ofries. strewa, OS. strewian, D. strooijen, G. streuen, OHG. strewen, Icel. str[=a], Sw. str["o], Dan. str["o]e, Goth. straujan, L. sternere, stratum, Gr. ?, ?, Skr. st?. [root]166. Cf. Stratum, Straw, Street.] 1. To scatter; to spread by scattering; to cast or to throw loosely apart; -- used of solids, separated or separable into parts or particles; as, to strew seed in beds; to strew sand on or over a floor; to strew flowers over a grave. And strewed his mangled limbs about the field. --Dryden. On a principal table a desk was open and many papers [were] strewn about. --Beaconsfield. 2. To cover more or less thickly by scattering something over or upon; to cover, or lie upon, by having been scattered; as, they strewed the ground with leaves; leaves strewed the ground. The snow which does the top of Pindus strew. --Spenser. Is thine alone the seed that strews the plain? --Pope. 3. To spread abroad; to disseminate. She may strew dangerous conjectures. --Shak.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(strews, strewing, strewed, strewn) To strew things somewhere, or to strew a place with things, means to scatter them there. The racoons knock over the rubbish bins in search of food, and strew the contents all over the ground... An elderly woman was strewing the floor with French chalk so that the dancing shoes would not slip... By the end, bodies were strewn all round the headquarters building. VERB: V n prep/adv, V n with n, V-ed

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. 1. Scatter, spread, strow. 2. Cover, overspread.

Moby Thesaurus

bestrew, broadcast, circulate, circumfuse, cover, deal out, diffract, diffuse, dispense, disperse, dispread, disseminate, dissipate, distribute, diverge, dust, fan out, issue, litter, overscatter, oversow, overspread, propagate, publish, radiate, retail, scatter, sow, sow broadcast, splay, spread, spread out, sprinkle, straw, toss, utter