mew

1 of 5

noun (1)

ˈmyü 

: gull

especially : a small gull (Larus canus) of Eurasia and western North America

mew

2 of 5

verb (1)

mewed; mewing; mews

intransitive verb

: to utter a mew or similar sound

gulls mewed over the bay

transitive verb

: to utter by mewing : meow

mew

3 of 5

noun (2)

: meow

mew

4 of 5

noun (3)

1

: an enclosure for trained hawks

—usually used in plural

2

: a place for hiding or retirement

3

mews plural in form but singular or plural in construction chiefly British

a(1)

: stables usually with living quarters built around a court

(2)

: living quarters adapted from such stables

b

: back street : alley

mew

5 of 5

verb (2)

mewed; mewing; mews

transitive verb

: to shut up : confine

—often used with up

Did you know?

Slang Meaning of Mewing

Mewing is the practice, especially among young men, of placing one’s tongue against the roof of the mouth to (supposedly) improve the structure and increase the attractiveness of one’s jaw and facial structure (a practice that has not been found to be effective). Learn more >

Synonyms

Verb (2)

• house
• coop (up)
• fence (in)
• box (in)
• include
• hem (in)
• confine
• wall (in)
• encase

Examples of mew in a Sentence

Verb (2)

bored with being mewed up in a stuffy house all day

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Social media has greatly intensified this process; peep a scene like phonk, which devolved from ‘90s Memphis rap homage to a sewage stream of electronic beats to lift weights and mew to. —Kieran Press-Reynolds, Pitchfork, 4 June 2025

The three-story, brick house is in the middle of a tiny historic mews in the Murray Hill neighborhood. —Vivian Marino, New York Times, 2 May 2025

The second-floor guest bedroom is accompanied by a contemporary marble bathroom, and the third floor is taken up by the primary suite, which encompasses a sizable dark-blue bedroom plus a separate sitting room/office with windows overlooking the mews. —Tori Latham, Robb Report, 6 May 2025

The private stone mews had over the years been home to the composer Cole Porter and the musician Lenny Kravitz. —Vivian Marino, New York Times, 2 May 2025

He is survived by his family, a collection of trophy big-game mounts, and generations of bulls in Colorado’s West Elk Wilderness who knew him by bugle, chuckle, and mew. —Andrew McKean, Outdoor Life, 19 Feb. 2025

Six months later the ones that got it right would be living in their own mews houses in Pimlico and looking fifteen years younger. —Rachel Cusk, Harper's Magazine, 19 Feb. 2025

The neo-classical residence, in addition to a mews house on nearby Kinnerton Street, was sold by Fairway Capital to an unidentified U.K. buyer. —Abby Montanez, Robb Report, 11 Jan. 2025

Gorgeous — there’s no way around it — with beamed ceilings, hardwoods throughout, half a block from the Washington Square mews … $4,995, 1-bedroom: Charming prewar with good bones and a ridiculously small kitchen. —Nora Deligter, Curbed, 3 Jan. 2025

Verb

There’s also plenty of mewing memes for Ewan Mitchell’s Aemond, and several comparing Jace and Aemond’s facial expressions this season. —Jennifer Maas, Variety, 5 Aug. 2024

Still, #mewing has been the subject of hundreds of thousands of videos on TikTok and YouTube — and the r/mewing community on Reddit consists of more than 60,000 members. —Angela Yang, NBC News, 26 June 2024

Cow elk communicate to other cows, as well as their calves, by mewing or chirping, another elk vocalization that can be heard for a significant distance. —Scott Bestul, Field & Stream, 28 Sep. 2023

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English, from Old English mǣw; akin to Old Norse mār gull

Verb (1)

Middle English mewen, of imitative origin

Noun (3)

Middle English mewe, from Anglo-French mue, muwe, from muer to change, molt, from Latin mutare to change — more at mutable

First Known Use

Noun (1)

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above

Verb (1)

14th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

Noun (2)

1596, in the meaning defined above

Noun (3)

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb (2)

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing mew

• sea mew

Rhymes for mew

• blew
• blue
• boo
• brew
• chew
• chou
• clue
• coo
• coup
• crew
• cue
• dew

Kids Definition

mew

1 of 3 noun

ˈmyü 

: gull entry 1

especially : a small gull of Eurasia and western North America

mew

2 of 3 noun

: meow

mew verb

mew

3 of 3 noun

1

: a cage for hawks

2

plural, chiefly British : stables usually with living quarters built around a court

Etymology

Noun

Old English mæw "gull"

Noun

Middle English mewen (verb) "meow"; a word imitating the sound of a cat

Noun

Middle English mewe "a cage for hawks," from early French mue (same meaning), from muer "to change, molt," from Latin mutare "to change"