pew

noun

ˈpyü 

1

: a compartment in the auditorium of a church providing seats for several persons

2

: one of the benches with backs and sometimes doors fixed in rows in a church

Examples of pew in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The church’s pews sat empty, but downstairs visitors waited around folding tables. —Addie Costello, jsonline.com, 12 Dec. 2025

Additionally, Zendaya's Rue Bennett sits in church pews, Schafer's Jules Vaughn kicks back in an art studio and Apatow's Lexi Howard appears to be in the same location as Demie's Perez. —Brenton Blanchet, PEOPLE, 12 Dec. 2025

Thousands of attendees are expected to fill the pews in the cathedral, but Parra's mom will be in the front row, cheering her on. —Kara Finnstrom, CBS News, 11 Dec. 2025

Dinah, who is getting heartbreakingly good at scheming, takes out a rusted shard of metal from one of the pews and gives it to Sarah, who hands it to Zoë. —Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 10 Dec. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English pewe, from Middle French dialect (Picardy) puie balustrade, from Latin podia, plural of podium parapet, podium, from Greek podion base, diminutive of pod-, pous foot — more at foot

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for pew

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

Kids Definition

pew

noun

ˈpyü 

: one of the benches with backs and sometimes doors set in rows in a church