stew
pronunciation
How to pronounce stew in British English:
UK [stju:]
How to pronounce stew in American English:
US [stu]
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- Noun:
- agitation resulting from active worry
- food prepared by stewing especially meat or fish with vegetables
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- Verb:
- be in a huff; be silent or sullen
- bear a grudge; harbor ill feelings
- cook slowly and for a long time in liquid
Word Origin
- stew
- stew: [14] The cooking sense of stew is a secondary development, first recorded in English in the 15th century. It originally denoted ‘take a steam bath’. It came via Old French estuver from Vulgar Latin *extūfāre. This was a compound verb formed from a probable noun *tūfus ‘hot vapour, steam’, a descendant of Greek túphos ‘smoke, steam, stupor’ (source also of English typhus [18] and typhoid [18]). *Extūfāre probably lies behind English stifle too.=> stifle, stove, typhoid, typhus
- stew (v.)
- late 14c., transitive "to bathe (a person or a body part) in a steam bath," from Old French estuver "have a hot bath, plunge into a bath; stew" (Modern French étuver), of uncertain origin. Common Romanic (cognates: Spanish estufar, Italian stufare), possibly from Vulgar Latin *extufare "evaporate," from ex- "out" + *tufus "vapor, steam," from Greek typhos "smoke." Compare Old English stuf-bæþ "hot-air bath;" see stove. Intransitive use from 1590s. Meaning "to boil slowly, to cook meat by simmering it in liquid" is attested from early 15c. The meaning "to be left to the consequences of one's actions" is from 1650s, especially in figurative expression to stew in one's own juices. Related: Stewed; stewing. Slang stewed "drunk" first attested 1737.
- stew (n.)
- c. 1300, "vessel for cooking," from stew (v.). Later "heated room," especially for bathing (late 14c.). The meaning "stewed meat with vegetables" is first recorded 1756. The obsolete slang meaning "brothel" (mid-14c., usually plural, stews) is from a parallel sense of "public bath house" (mid-14c.), carried over from Old French estuve "bath, bath house; bawdy house," reflecting the reputation of medieval bath houses.
Example
- 1. It 's better to stew rather than fry food .
- 2. I do a one-pot meal like goose stew and everyone serves themselves .
- 3. Then the husband comes home and she serves him the stew .
- 4. 1 1 / 2 Pounds cubed beef stew meat
- 5. Sometimes the texture of carrots is as important to a dish as their flavor - they really can bulk up a sauce or stew .