Definition: mew

Source: WordNet (r) 1.7

mew
     n 1: the sound made by a cat (or any sound resembling this) [syn:
           meow, miaou, miaow]
     2: the common gull of Eurasia and northeastern North America
        [syn: mew gull, sea mew, Larus canus]
     v : utter a high-pitched cry, as of seagulls

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Mew \Mew\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Mewed; p. pr. & vb. n.
   Mewing.] [OE. muen, F. muer, fr. L. mutare to change, fr.
   movere to move. See Move, and cf. Mew a cage, Molt.]
   To shed or cast; to change; to molt; as, the hawk mewed his
   feathers.

         Nine times the moon had mewed her horns. --Dryden.

Mew \Mew\, v. i.
   To cast the feathers; to molt; hence, to change; to put on a
   new appearance.

         Now everything doth mew, And shifts his rustic winter
         robe.                                    --Turbervile.

Mew \Mew\, n. [OE. mue, F. mue change of feathers, scales, skin,
   the time or place when the change occurs, fr. muer to molt,
   mew, L. mutare to change. See 2d Mew.]
   1. A cage for hawks while mewing; a coop for fattening fowls;
      hence, any inclosure; a place of confinement or shelter;
      -- in the latter sense usually in the plural.

            Full many a fat partrich had he in mewe. --Chaucer.

            Forthcoming from her darksome mew.    --Spenser.

            Violets in their secret mews.         --Wordsworth.

   2. A stable or range of stables for horses; -- compound used
      in the plural, and so called from the royal stables in
      London, built on the site of the king's mews for hawks.

Mew \Mew\, n. [AS. m?w, akin to D. meeuw, G. m["o]we, OHG. m?h,
   Icel. m[=a]r.] (Zo["o]l.)
   A gull, esp. the common British species (Larus canus);
   called also sea mew, maa, mar, mow, and cobb.

Mew \Mew\, v. t. [From Mew a cage.]
   To shut up; to inclose; to confine, as in a cage or other
   inclosure.

         More pity that the eagle should be mewed. --Shak.

         Close mewed in their sedans, for fear of air. --Dryden.

Mew \Mew\, v. i. [Of imitative origin; cf. G. miauen.]
   To cry as a cat. [Written also meaw, meow.] --Shak.

Mew \Mew\, n.
   The common cry of a cat. --Shak.

Spicknel \Spick"nel\, n. [Contr. from spike nail a large, long
   nail; -- so called in allusion to the shape of its capillary
   leaves.] (Bot.)
   An umbelliferous herb (Meum Athamanticum) having finely
   divided leaves, common in Europe; -- called also baldmoney,
   mew, and bearwort. [Written also spignel.]