Strew

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Strew \Strew\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Strewed}; p. p. {strewn}; p.
     pr. & vb. n. {Strewing}.] [OE. strewen, strawen, AS.
     strewian, stre['o]wian; akin to Ofries. strewa, OS. strewian,
     D. strooijen, G. streuen, OHG. strewen, Icel. str[=a], Sw.
     str["o], Dan. str["o]e, Goth. straujan, L. sternere, stratum,
     Gr. ?, ?, Skr. st?. [root]166. Cf. {Stratum}, {Straw},


     {Street}.]
     1. To scatter; to spread by scattering; to cast or to throw
        loosely apart; -- used of solids, separated or separable
        into parts or particles; as, to strew seed in beds; to
        strew sand on or over a floor; to strew flowers over a
        grave.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              And strewed his mangled limbs about the field.
                                                    --Dryden.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              On a principal table a desk was open and many papers
              [were] strewn about.                  --Beaconsfield.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. To cover more or less thickly by scattering something over
        or upon; to cover, or lie upon, by having been scattered;
        as, they strewed the ground with leaves; leaves strewed
        the ground.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              The snow which does the top of Pindus strew.
                                                    --Spenser.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Is thine alone the seed that strews the plain?
                                                    --Pope.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. To spread abroad; to disseminate.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              She may strew dangerous conjectures.  --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  strew
       v 1: spread by scattering ("straw" is archaic); "strew toys all
            over the carpet" [syn: {straw}]
       2: cover; be dispersed over; "Dead bodies strewed the ground"
       [also: {strewn}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  36 Moby Thesaurus words for "strew":
     bestrew, broadcast, circulate, circumfuse, cover, deal out,
     diffract, diffuse, dispense, disperse, dispread, disseminate,
     dissipate, distribute, diverge, dust, fan out, issue, litter,
     overscatter, oversow, overspread, propagate, publish, radiate,
     retail, scatter, sow, sow broadcast, splay, spread, spread out,
     sprinkle, straw, toss, utter