dictionary help1. A cage for hawks while mewing; a coop for fattening fowls; hence, any inclosure; a place of confinement or shelter; in the latter sense usually in the plural. "Full many a fat partrich had he in mewe." (Chaucer) "Forthcoming from her darksome mew." (Spenser) "Violets in their secret mews." (Wordsworth)
2. A stable or range of stables for horses; compound used in the plural, and so called from the royal stables in London, built on the site of the king's mews for hawks.
Origin: OE. Mue, F. Mue change of feathers, scales, skin, the time or place when the change occurs, fr. Muer to molt, mew, L. Mutare to change. See Mew.
<zoology> A gull, especially. The common British species (Larus canus).
Synonyms: sea mew, maa, mar, mow, and cobb.
Origin: AS. Mw, akin to D. Meeuw, G. Mowe, OHG. Mh, Icel. Mar.
(01 Mar 1998)
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