strew
/stɹu/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.63 in modern English
8
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To distribute objects or pieces of something over an area, especially in a random manner.
Dated
verb
To populate with at random points; to cause to appear randomly distributed throughout.
Example Sentences
- "to strew sand over a floor"
- "The files had been strewn all over the floor."
- "Sweet flower, with flowers thy bridal bed I strew."
- "And strewed his mangled limbs about the field."
- "[…] I ſee Th’ Inſulting Tyrant prancing o’er the Field Strow’d with Rome’s Citizens, and drench’d in Slaughter, His Horſe’s Hoofs wet with Patrician Blood."
- "On a principal table a desk was open and many papers strewn about."
Etymology
From Middle English strewen, strawen, streowen, from Old English strewian, strēawian, strēowian (“to strew, scatter”), from Proto-West Germanic *strauwjan, from Proto-Germanic *strawjaną (“to strew”), from Proto-Indo-European *strew- (“to spread, scatter”). Cognate with Scots strow, straw (“to strew”), West Frisian streauwe (“to strew”), Dutch strooien (“to strew, scatter, sprinkle”), German streuen (“to strew, scatter”), Swedish strö (“to strew”), Icelandic strá (“to strew”), Norwegian Nynorsk strå (“to strew”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *strew-, strewen, strewian, *strauwjan, *strawjaną
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /stɹu/
- British English: /stɹuː/