strew Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. verb spread by scattering ("straw" is archaic)
    straw.
    • strew toys all over the carpet
  2. verb cover; be dispersed over
    • Dead bodies strewed the ground

WordNet

Strew transitive verb
Etymology
OE. strewen, strawen, AS. strewian, streówian; akin to Ofries. strewa, OS. strewian, D. strooijen, G. streuen, OHG. strewen, Icel. stra, Sw. strö, Dan. ströe, Goth. straujan, L. sternere, stratum, Gr. , , Skr. st. *166. Cf. Stratum, Straw, Street.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Strewed ; past participle strewn ; present participle & verbal noun Strewing
Definitions
  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.
    And strewed his mangled limbs about the field. Dryden.
    On a principal table a desk was open and many papers [were] strewn about. Beaconsfield.
  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.
    The snow which does the top of Pindus strew. Spenser.
    Is thine alone the seed that strews the plain? Pope.
  3. To spread abroad; to disseminate.
    She may strew dangerous conjectures. Shak.

Webster 1913