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

Geneva Watch Days opened last Thursday with a slew of new introductions that added substance and excitement to the weekend of events seminars, roundtables and events focused on the world of luxury watches. —Carol Besler, Forbes.com, 8 Sep. 2025

In addition to the slew of hotels in town, camping is available at Morro Bay State Park. —Cu Fleshman, Travel + Leisure, 8 Sep. 2025

Verb

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

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

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

Podcast

Get Word of the Day delivered to your inbox!

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