Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
- n. Informal A large amount or number; a lot: a slew of unpaid bills.
- v. Past tense of slay.
- n. Variant of slough1.
- v. Variant of slue1.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- n. A large amount.
- n. The act, or process of slaying.
- n. A device used for slaying.
- n. A change of position.
- v. To rotate or turn something about its axis.
- v. To veer a vehicle.
- v. To insert extra ticks or skip some ticks of a clock to slowly correct its time.
- v. To pivot.
- v. To skid.
- v. to move something (usually a railway line) sideways
- v. To make a public mockery of someone through insult or wit.
- v. Simple past of slay.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
- imp. of slay.
- transitive v. See slue.
- n. A wet place; a river inlet.
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Preterit of slay.
- n. A spelling of slue, slue, slough.
- n. A swift tideway; an eddy.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- v. turn sharply; change direction abruptly
- v. move obliquely or sideways, usually in an uncontrolled manner
- n. (often followed by `of') a large number or amount or extent
Etymologies
Examples
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But that slew is a whole other stew, and quite another story as well …
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Near faint at the thought, a certain slew of words had the effect of smelling salts and I perked right up.
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While last year's top pitching prospects are at various stages of rehab from injuries, a new slew is making its presence felt.
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I called a slew of people, no one around, or no one doing anything, people hanging out, being mellow, waiting for the next night.
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It was so controversial among his party that Tom DeLay had to break a slew of ethics rules and hold a 15-minute vote open for more than three hours to pass the legislation.
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In fact, when news broke late Friday night, Reid started calling a slew of African-American leaders.
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If we suffer ill for doing well, we must not think it strange; from the beginning it was so (Cain slew
Commentary on the Whole Bible Volume III (Job to Song of Solomon)
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They completed a section of a slew, which is just south of Highway 132 near the San Joaquin River Bridge.
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After remarking the candles and lamps, and perfumes and ointments, he approached the slave, and with a blow of his sword slew him; he then carried him on his back, and threw him into a well which he found in the palace, and returning to the kubbeh, clad himself with the slaves clothes, and lay down with the drawn sword by his side.
Nights 3-9. The Story of the Young King of the Black Islands.
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My father the deacon used to say, the penny siller slew mair souls than the naked sword slew bodies. ''
ruzuzu commented on the word slew
"v. To insert extra ticks or skip some ticks of a clock to slowly correct its time."
--Wiktionary
March 6, 2012
yarb commented on the word slew
Citation on whaleman.
September 9, 2008
whichbe commented on the word slew
A double contronym(!): meaning both to turn sharply *and* to move smoothly. Also, meaning both a reduction ("kill off") and a plentitude.
August 29, 2008