slew

1 of 4

noun

ˈslü 

: a large number

a slew of books

slew

2 of 4

past tense of slay

slew

3 of 4

verb

ˈslü 

variants or less commonly slue

slewed also slued; slewing also sluing; slews also slues

transitive verb

1

: to turn (something, such as a telescope or a ship's spar) about a fixed point that is usually the axis

2

: to cause to skid : veer

slew a car around a turn

intransitive verb

1

: to turn, twist, or swing about : pivot

2

: skid

slew

4 of 4

less common spelling of slough entry 1 sense 1b

Did you know?

Slew appeared as an American colloquialism in the early 19th century. Its origins are unclear, but it is perhaps taken from the Irish slua, a descendant of Old Irish slúag, meaning "army," "host," or "throng." Slew has several homographs (words that are spelled alike but different in meaning, derivation, or pronunciation) in English. These include: slew as the past tense of the verb slay; slew as a spelling variant of slough, a word which is also commonly pronounced \SLOO\ and which means "swamp," "an inlet on a river," or "a creek in a marsh or tide flat"; and the verb slew, meaning "to turn, veer, or skid."

Synonyms

Noun

• loads
• ton
• dozen
• plenty
• bunch
• lot
• deal
• pile
• raft
• chunk
• wealth
• hundred

Examples of slew in a Sentence

Noun

He has written a slew of books.

we still have a slew of work to do on this project

Verb

He slewed the telescope three degrees south.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Player Replacements for the Event The grind of the nearly every week nature of the sport right now is starting to take its toll, as a slew of players were absent from this event, some with lingering injuries and others with pre-arranged conflicts. —Todd Boss, Forbes.com, 14 July 2025

The Trump administration has instituted a slew of policies, including sweeping tariffs, in an effort to revive America’s declining manufacturing industries. —Auzinea Bacon, CNN Money, 13 July 2025

Verb

If there is any unevenness in wear the bomb will slew to one side and curve away from a straight path. —David Hambling, Forbes.com, 23 June 2025

The 'Planetarium View' shows users a representation of the night sky, and tapping on an object gives you the option to slew the telescope to it directly. —Gemma Lavender, Space.com, 15 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun

perhaps from Irish slua army, host, throng, from Old Irish slúag; akin to Lithuanian slaugyti to tend

Verb

origin unknown

First Known Use

Noun

1839, in the meaning defined above

Verb

circa 1769, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Rhymes for slew

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

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Kids Definition

slew

1 of 4

ˈslü

past of slay

slew

2 of 4

variant of slough entry 1 sense 1

slew

3 of 4 verb

variants also slue

: to turn, twist, or swing about especially out of a course : veer

slew

4 of 4 noun

: a large number