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 of slew

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

The annual meeting, focused on Moroccan, Arab and African feature projects and taking its name from the mountain range visible on Marrakech’s horizon, has been involved in a slew of films making waves on the 2025 festival circuit. —Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 24 Nov. 2025

This year’s Formula 1 Grand Prix has brought out a slew of other celebrities, a few being Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Nina Dobrev and Ben Affleck. —Kelsey Stewart, Footwear News, 23 Nov. 2025

Verb

The bull slewed around broadside, and a shot through the lungs put it down. —Jack O'Connor, Outdoor Life, 24 Sep. 2025

Starshade concepts, placing a second spacecraft tens of thousands of miles in front of a telescope to create a tiny artificial eclipse, would need two launches and vast quantities of fuel to slew between targets. —Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 3 Sep. 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