strew

verb \ ˈstrü \

|Updated on: 12 Aug 2018

Examples: strew in a Sentence

Definition of strew

strewed; strewed or strewn play \ˈstrün\; strewing

transitive verb

1 : to spread by scattering

2 : to cover by or as if by scattering something

strewing the highways with litter

3 : to become dispersed over as if scattered

4 : to spread abroad : disseminate

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Examples of strew in a Sentence

She strewed the birdseed on the ground.
sidewalks strewed with trash left by the parade watchers

Recent Examples of strew from the Web

The photo also showed what Francis identified as some of his mother's cremated remains strewn among the contents of the bag.

— martine powers, ajc, "TSA: We didn't spill the cremated remains of A.J. Francis's mother," 11 July 2018
The photo also showed what Francis identified as some of his mother’s cremated remains strewn among the contents of the bag.

— martine powers, Washington Post, "TSA: We didn’t spill the cremated remains of A.J. Francis’s mother," 10 July 2018
About 20 people were on the porch Saturday night, celebrating the birth of two babies, when the floor ripped away from the building, plunging about 20 feet to the ground and strewing people across the backyard, DeJesus said.

— matthew ormseth, courant.com, "After Porch Collapse In Hartford, Neighbors Ask 'What Else Is Going To Fall?'," 8 July 2018
Place the duck breast up in a roasting pan, strew the remaining pieces of 1 carrot and 1 onion around it, and set it in the middle level of the oven for 15 minutes to brown lightly.

— daniel neman, sacbee, "Main dishes? Fruit is not forbidden," 26 June 2018
What one of the dozens of microphones strewn throughout the course at Shinnecock Hills picked up from one spectator chatting with another was hard R, at least.

— phil rosenthal, chicagotribune.com, "Please, ESPN, don't muzzle Adrian Wojnarowski's NBA draft spoilers," 19 June 2018
Then Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, strewing mold-producing wreckage across the island and forcing many to use fume-spewing generators for power.

— CBS News, "Puerto Rico struggles with jump in asthma cases after hurricane Maria," 18 June 2018
There are other, more subtle, hints strewn through the episode, too.

— bryan bishop, The Verge, "Westworld Spoilers Club season 2, episode 9: Vanishing Point," 18 June 2018
While drug paraphernalia is still strewn across the bathroom counter, the Daytona version features one less beer can.

— carson kessler, Fortune, "Kanye West Paid $85K for Photo of Whitney Houston's Bathroom for Pusha T Album Cover," 25 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'strew.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of strew

Middle English strewen, strowen, from Old English strewian, strēowian; akin to Old High German strewen to strew, Latin struere to heap up, sternere to spread out, Greek stornynai

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: before 12th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year