noun

mew

MYOO

noun

The soft crying sound made by a cat, especially a kitten.

"The kitten gave a tiny mew from under the sofa."

verb

To make this crying sound, like a cat.

"The cat mewed at the door until someone let it in."

To confine or shut something away (an older usage).

"The prisoner was mewed up in a small cell for years."

How to Use Mew

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishThe sound a cat makes, or (in an old-fashioned sense) to lock something away.

mewed past tense, mewed past tense, mewed past tense, mews plural, mews plural, mews plural, mews singular, mews singular, mews singular

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The kitten gave a tiny _____ from under the sofa.

From Old English mǣw ("seagull"), though the cat-cry sense developed separately as an imitation of the sound itself.

Bartholomew