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stew

noun · verb

Simple meaning

A pool in which fish are kept in preparation for eating.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

stoo
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈstu

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. Sussex

    A pool in which fish are kept in preparation for eating.

  2. uncountablecountable

    A dish cooked by stewing.

  3. A diminutive of the male given name Stewart.

  4. informal

    A steward or stewardess on an airplane or boat.

verb

  1. Cook slowly and for a long time in liquid

  2. transitive or intransitive or ergative

    To cook (food) by slowly boiling or simmering.

  3. transitive

    To brew (tea) for too long, so that the flavour becomes too strong.

  4. intransitivefiguratively

    To suffer under uncomfortably hot conditions.

  5. intransitivefiguratively

    To be in a state of elevated anxiety or anger.

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: (Sussex) A pool in which fish are kept in preparation for eating.

Used this way, stew is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use stew

  • “He tended to stew about minor problems, making them seem worse.”verb

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More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: cook slowly and for a long time in liquid

sweat

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.