Word forms: plural, 3rd person singular presenttense stews, present participle stewing, past tense, past participle stewed
1. variable noun
A stew is a meal which you make by cooking meat and vegetables in liquid at a low temperature.
She served him a bowl of lamb stew.
They made a stew.
Synonyms: hash, casserole, goulash, ragout More Synonyms of stew
2. verb
When you stew meat, vegetables, or fruit, you cook them slowly in liquid in a closed dish.
Stew the apple and blackberries to make a thick pulp. [VERB noun]
...stewed prunes. [VERB-ed]
Synonyms: braise, boil, simmer, casserole More Synonyms of stew
3.
See in a stew
4.
See let someone stew/leave someone to stew
More Synonyms of stew
stew in British English1
(stjuː)
noun
1.
a.
a dish of meat, fish, or other food, cooked by stewing
b.
(as modifier)
stew pot
2. informal
a difficult or worrying situation or a troubled state (esp in the phrase in a stew)
3.
a heterogeneous mixture
a stew of people of every race
4. (usually plural) archaic
a brothel
5. obsolete
a public room for hot steam baths
verb
6.
to cook or cause to cook by long slow simmering
7. (intransitive) informal
to be troubled or agitated
8. (intransitive) informal
to be oppressed with heat or crowding
9.
to cause (tea) to become bitter or (of tea) to become bitter through infusing for too long
10. stew in one's own juice
Word origin
C14 stuen to take a very hot bath, from Old French estuver, from Vulgar Latin extūfāre (unattested), from ex-1 + (unattested) tūfus vapour, from Greek tuphos
stew in British English2
(stjuː)
noun British
1.
a fishpond or fishtank
2.
an artificial oyster bed
Word origin
C14: from Old French estui, from estoier to shut up, confine, ultimately from Latin studiumstudy
stew in American English1
(stu; stju)
verb transitive
1.
to cook by simmering or boiling slowly for a long time
verb intransitive
2.
to undergo cooking in this way
3.
to be oppressed with heat, crowded conditions, etc.
4.
to fret, fume, or worry; be vexed or troubled
noun
5. Obsolete
brothel
usually used in pl.
6.
a dish, esp. a mixture of meat and vegetables, cooked by stewing
7.
a state of vexation or worry
SIMILAR WORDS: boil
Idioms:
stew in one's own juice
Word origin
ME stuen < MFr estuver, to stew, bathe < VL *extufare < L ex, out + Gr typhos, steam, smoke < IE *dheubh- < base *dheu-, blow, be turbid > dull; (sense 5) < obs. sense, a public room for hot baths
stew in American English2
(stu; stju)
noun
Slang
UNRESOLVED CROSS REF
More idioms containing
stew
in a stew
let someone stew
Examples of 'stew' in a sentence
stew
Who wants to be eating hot lamb stew in that heat?
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
One of my most embarrassing successes was a beef stew.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
We had to content ourselves with fish stew instead.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
We have our coal fires and our board games and our hot stews.
The Sun (2012)
On the first night of our walk my mother cooked a stew from wild fruit and vegetables.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Serve with sweet potatoes roasted in the skins while the stew cooks.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Small boiled new potatoes make the stew go further.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
They use them to make wonderfully light seafood and meat stews.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Extra helpings of beef stew and mash mean savings on the gas bill.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Grilled sardines and fish stew loves this.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
Perfect with a rich game stew or pie.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
Do you bother to make a stew if there are only two for dinner?
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
My lamb stew was totally tasteless.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
It means spicy stew with meat.
Christianity Today (2000)
Out of this cultural stew, brilliance has emerged.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
The meat is used to supply restaurants for turtle dishes including stews, steaks and soup.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
To serve, slowly reheat the stew.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
While my sons were growing up there was a long period when they wouldn't eat any dish called stew.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
American society was one of a vast "melting pot," into which all ethnic differences were somehow boiled down into a common cultural stew.
Appelbaum, Richard P. Sociology (1995)
In other languages
stew
British English: stew /stjuː/ NOUN
A stew is a meal made by cooking meat and vegetables in liquid at a low temperature.
...a delicious homemade stew.
American English: stew
Arabic: طَعَامٌ مَطْهْوٌ بِالغَليّ
Brazilian Portuguese: guisado
Chinese: 炖肉
Croatian: varivo
Czech: dušené maso
Danish: gryderet
Dutch: stoofschotel
European Spanish: estofado
Finnish: muhennos
French: mijoter
German: Eintopf
Greek: στιφάδο
Italian: stufato
Japanese: シチュー
Korean: 스튜
Norwegian: stuing
Polish: mięso duszone
European Portuguese: guisado
Romanian: tocană
Russian: рагу
Latin American Spanish: estofado
Swedish: gryta
Thai: สตูว์
Turkish: güveç
Ukrainian: печеня
Vietnamese: món hầm
British English: stew VERB
When you stew meat, vegetables, or fruit, you cook them slowly in liquid in a closed dish.
Stew the apple and blackberries to make a thick pulp.
American English: stew
Brazilian Portuguese: cozinhar
Chinese: 炖
European Spanish: cocer
French: faire cuire
German: dünsten
Italian: stufare
Japanese: とろ火で煮込む
Korean: 뭉근한 불로 끓이다
European Portuguese: cozinhar
Latin American Spanish: cocer
All related terms of 'stew'
stew meat
Stew meat is the same as → stewing steak .
stew pond
a fishpond or fishtank
in a stew
If you are in a stew , you feel very worried .
Irish stew
a white stew made of mutton , lamb , or beef , with potatoes , onions , etc
oyster stew
a stew containing oysters
mulligan stew
a stew made of odd bits of meat and vegetables, esp. as prepared by hobos
Brunswick stew
a stew originally made with squirrel and onions , and now usually with rabbit or chicken and corn , okra , onions, tomatoes , lima beans , etc.
let someone stew
to deliberately leave someone to worry about something, for example the consequence of their actions, and to not do anything to comfort or help them
stew in one's own juice
to suffer unaided the consequences of one's actions
let someone stew/leave someone to stew
If you let a person stew or if you leave them to stew , you deliberately allow them to worry about something for a while, rather than telling them something which would make them feel better .
Chinese translation of 'stew'
stew
(stjuː)
n(c/u)
炖(燉)的食物 (dùn de shíwù) (种(種), zhǒng)
vt, vi
[meat, vegetables]炖(燉) (dùn)
[fruit]煨 (wēi)
stewed tea泡过(過)久的茶 (pào guò jiǔ de chá)
1 (noun)
Definition
a dish of meat, fish, or other food, cooked slowly in a closed pot
She served him a bowl of beef stew.
Synonyms
hash
casserole
goulash
ragout
olla
olio
olla podrida
2 (noun)
Synonyms
mixture
a mixture of spiced, grilled vegetables
mix
a magical mix of fantasy and reality
blend
He makes up his own blends of flour.
medley
a medley of traditional songs
hash
potpourri
a potpourri of architectural styles from all over the world
miscellany
glass cases filled with a miscellany of objects
olla
hotchpotch
hodgepodge (US, Canadian)
olio
1 (verb)
Definition
to cook by long slow simmering in a closed pot
Stew the apple and blackberries to make a thick pulp.
Synonyms
braise
boil
Peel the potatoes and boil them.
simmer
Turn the heat down so the sauce simmers gently.
casserole
2 (verb)
I'd rather let him stew.
Synonyms
worry
I worry about my daughter constantly.
suffer
be anxious
obsess
brood
He constantly broods about his family.
fret
I was constantly fretting about others' problems.
agonize
I was agonizing over the moral issues involved.
feel uneasy
go through the mill
be in anguish
idiom
See in a stew
Additional synonyms
in the sense of agonize
Definition
to worry greatly
I was agonizing over the moral issues involved.
Synonyms
suffer,
labour,
worry,
struggle,
strain,
strive,
writhe,
be distressed,
be in agony,
go through the mill,
be in anguish
in the sense of blend
Definition
a mixture produced by blending
He makes up his own blends of flour.
Synonyms
mixture,
cross,
mix,
combination,
compound,
brew,
composite,
union,
fusion,
synthesis,
alloy,
medley,
concoction,
amalgam,
amalgamation,
meld,
mélange,
conglomeration,
admixture
in the sense of boil
Definition
to cook or be cooked by the process of boiling
Peel the potatoes and boil them.
Synonyms
bring to the boil,
cook,
simmer
Synonyms of 'stew'
stew
Explore 'stew' in the dictionary
Additional synonyms
in the sense of brood
Definition
to think long and unhappily about something
He constantly broods about his family.
Synonyms
think,
obsess,
muse,
ponder,
fret,
meditate,
agonize,
mull over,
mope,
ruminate,
eat your heart out,
dwell upon,
repine
in the sense of fret
Definition
to worry
I was constantly fretting about others' problems.
Synonyms
worry,
anguish,
brood,
agonize,
obsess,
lose sleep,
upset yourself,
distress yourself
in the sense of medley
Definition
a mixture of various elements
a medley of traditional songs
Synonyms
mixture,
confusion,
jumble,
assortment,
patchwork,
pastiche,
mixed bag (informal),
potpourri,
mélange,
miscellany,
mishmash,
farrago,
hotchpotch,
hodgepodge,
salmagundi,
olio,
gallimaufry,
omnium-gatherum
in the sense of miscellany
Definition
a mixed assortment of items
glass cases filled with a miscellany of objects
Synonyms
assortment,
collection,
variety,
mixture,
diversity,
anthology,
jumble,
medley,
mixed bag,
potpourri,
mélange,
farrago,
hotchpotch,
salmagundi,
gallimaufry,
omnium-gatherum
in the sense of mix
Definition
something produced by mixing
a magical mix of fantasy and reality
Synonyms
mixture,
combination,
blend,
fusion,
compound,
jumble,
assortment,
alloy,
medley,
concoction,
amalgam,
mixed bag (informal),
meld,
mélange,
miscellany
in the sense of potpourri
Definition
an assortment or medley
a potpourri of architectural styles from all over the world