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. ''
leontd commented on the word slew
You have a slew option here.
February 22, 2015
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