slew
2 of 4past tense of slay
slew
4 of 4less common spelling of slough entry 1 sense 1b
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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."
Examples of slew in a Sentence
Blythe Lawrence, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025
The plan would mean that in a corporate fight — over board seats, takeovers, or the slew of social and environmental issues that regularly come up at the oil giant — shareholders who opt into Exxon’s plan would automatically side with management.
—Rohan Goswami, semafor.com, 15 Sep. 2025
Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 3 Sep. 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for slew
Cite this Entry
“Slew.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/slew. Accessed 17 Sep. 2025.
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