slew
1 of 4noun
slew
2 of 4past tense of slay
slew
3 of 4verb
transitive verb
intransitive verb
slew
4 of 4less 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
- abundance
- barrel
- basketful
- boatload
- bucket
- bunch
- bundle
- bushel
- carload
- chunk
- deal
- dozen
- fistful
- gobs
- good deal
- heap
- hundred
- lashings [chiefly British]
- lashins
- loads
- lot
- mass
- mess
- mountain
- much
- multiplicity
- myriad
- oodles
- pack
- passel
- peck
- pile
- plateful
- plenitude
- plentitude
- plenty
- pot
- potful
- profusion
- quantity
- raft
- reams
- scads
- sheaf
- shipload
- sight
- spate
- stack
- store
- ton
- truckload
- volume
- wad
- wealth
- yard
Example Sentences
Word History
Noun
perhaps from Irish slua army, host, throng, from Old Irish slúag; akin to Lithuanian slaugyti to tend
Verb
origin unknown
Noun
1839, in the meaning defined above
Verb
circa 1769, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1
Kids Definition
slew
past tense of slay
slew 1 of 2
noun
Synonyms & Similar Words
- ton
- loads
- dozen
- plenty
- hundred
- bunch
- lot
- raft
- deal
- pile
- myriad
- chunk
- wealth
- stack
- much
- abundance
- quantity
- bundle
- boatload
- scads
- truckload
- basketful
- spate
- oodles
- gobs
- reams
- sheaf
- heap
- fistful
- passel
- profusion
- multiplicity
- shipload
- mountain
- thousands
- good deal
- carload
- plentitude
- pack
- plenitude
- bucket
- volume
- yard
- peck
- plateful
- bushel
- mass
- pot
- store
- mess
- lashings
- sight
- wad
- barrel
- potful
- plethora
- multitude
- all kinds (of)
- quite a bit
- bevy
- flood
- lashins
- rash
- plague
- score
- million
- surfeit
- deluge
- overabundance
- surplus
- host
- horde
- excess
- legion
- swarm
- bonanza
- zillion
- sea
- epidemic
- superabundance
- flock
- throng
- overmuch
- army
- oversupply
- crowd
- superfluity
- overkill
- drove
- overflow
- cram
- gazillion
- crush
- embarrassment
- overage
- redundancy
- press
- trillion
- herd
- mob
- jillion
- kazillion
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- handful
- bit
- suspicion
- sprinkling
- spot
- taste
- hint
- strain
- shadow
- touch
- grain
- trace
- ace
- ray
- sprinkle
- shade
- ounce
- streak
- mouthful
- fragment
- particle
- pittance
- smattering
- molecule
- peanuts
- glimmer
- pinch
- tad
- dram
- speck
- scrap
- mite
- scruple
- shred
- nip
- whit
- lick
- atom
- mote
- modicum
- jot
- dab
- section
- little
- drop
- iota
- dot
- portion
- shot
- tittle
- scintilla
- granule
- dash
- piece
- smidge
- crumb
- smidgeon
- smidgen
- morsel
- absence
- smidgin
- driblet
- shortage
- lack
- paucity
- dearth
- fleck
- flyspeck
- scarcity
- famine
- smatter
- nubbin
- poverty
- deficiency
- want
- deficit
- insufficiency
- inadequacy
- scantiness
- scarceness
- undersupply
- meagerness
- scantness
- skimpiness
slew
2 of 2verb
Synonyms & Similar Words
- killed
- destroyed
- took
- claimed
- dispatched
- carried off
- murdered
- felled
- slaughtered
- did for
- massacred
- smote
- cut down
- got
- croaked
- butchered
- did in
- whacked
- assassinated
- offed
- wasted
- decimated
- bumped off
- rubbed out
- put away
- executed
- knocked off
- snuffed
- finished
- made away with
- did away with
- killed off
- neutralized
- scragged
- annihilated
- blotted out
- mowed
- put down
- martyred
- took out
- iced
- terminated
- euthanized
- suicided
- euthanatized
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- animated
- raised
- revived
- resurrected
- restored
- nurtured
- resuscitated
Synonyms & Similar Words
- murdered
- assassinated
- killed
- executed
- got
- dispatched
- slaughtered
- whacked
- bumped off
- rubbed out
- put away
- offed
- knocked off
- snuffed
- neutralized
- destroyed
- claimed
- smote
- croaked
- shot down
- did in
- terminated
- liquidated
- shot
- massacred
- cut down
- carried off
- took out
- felled
- butchered
- iced
- did away with
- wiped out
- zapped
- eliminated
- blotted out
- blew away
- annihilated
- eradicated
- mowed (down)
- exterminated
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- raised
- animated
- revived
- resurrected
- restored
- resuscitated