dewn.
/djuː/ 1. † b. plural ? Damp places. Obsolete.
a. The moisture deposited in minute drops upon any cool surface by the condensation of the vapour in the atmosphere; formed after a hot day during or towards night, and plentiful in the early morning.Formerly supposed to fall or descend softly from the heavens, whence numerous current phrases, figures, and modes of speech: cf. dew-fall n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > precipitation or atmospheric moisture > dew > [noun]
dewa800
rousee1481
spirit1567
rorec1600
dag1691
a800 Corpus Gloss. 1752 Roscido, deawe.
c825 Vesp. Psalter cxxxii[i]. 3 Swe swe deaw se astigeð in munt.
c1000 Ælfric Exodus xvi. 13 On morgen wæs deaw abutan þa fyrdwic.
a1175 Cott. Hom. 233 His sonne, mone, sterren, rien, daw, wind.
c1175 Lamb. Hom. 159 Þe sunne drach up þene deu.
c1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 256 On þe liȝte þe heouene deuȝ.
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 3327 Knewen he nogt ðis dewes cost.
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 91 Bote a drope of deau..þe drope of þe deawe.
c1380 J. Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 27 Weetynge of hevenly deew.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Dan. iv. 30 With dewe of heuen his body was enfourmed.
1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum (1495) viii. xvii. 326 The more clere that the mone is in the Somer tyme the more plente of dewe is seen vpon the grasse and herbes.
a1400 Minor Poems Vernon MS. 618 Softur þen watur or eny licour, Or dewȝ þat liþ on þe lilie flour, Was cristes bodi.
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 120 Dewe, ros.
a1513 W. Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen in Poems (1998) I. 41 The dew donkit the daill, and dynnit the feulis.
c1550 Complaynt Scotl. (1979) vi. 46 The deu..is ane humid vapour generit in the sycond regione of the ayr.
1595 E. Spenser Astrophel in Colin Clouts come Home Againe sig. F4 All the day it standeth full of deow.
1609 P. Holland tr. Ammianus Marcellinus Rom. Hist. xxiii. vi. 238 These pearles, within strong and bright shels of the sea-fishes, conceived..by a commixtion of deaw.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Julius Caesar (1623) v. iii. 63 Our day is gone, Clowds, Dewes, and Dangers come. View more context for this quotation
1665 T. Herbert Some Years Trav. (new ed.) 372 Pearls..generated..of the morning dew of Heaven, which in serenes falls into the gaping Shell-fish.
1784 H. Cavendish in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 74 129 Almost all the inflammable air, and near one-fifth of the common air, lose their elasticity, and are condensed into dew.
1796 R. Southey Joan of Arc ii. 9 As the dews of night Descended.
1800 W. Wordsworth Pet-lamb in Lyrical Ballads (ed. 2) II. 139 The dew was falling fast, the stars began to blink.
1841 C. Dickens Old Curiosity Shop i. xvii. 181 She walked out into the churchyard, brushing the dew from the long grass with her feet.
1848 E. Bulwer-Lytton Harold I. i. i. 4 Arch and blooming faces bowed down to bathe in the May dew.
1878 T. H. Huxley Physiography (ed. 2) 51 Moisture which is thus deposited upon any cold surface, without production of mist, is termed dew.
1887 C. Bowen tr. Virgil Eclogues v, in tr. Virgil in Eng. Verse 35 While bee sucks from the thyme, and cicalas drink of the dew.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > marsh, bog, or swamp > [noun] > wet place, mire, or slough
sloughc900
mooreOE
letch1138
mire1219
sougha1300
dew1377
slop?a1400
flashc1440
slothc1440
slonk1488
slot?a1500
rilling1610
slab1610
water-gall1657
slunkc1700
slack1719
mudhole1721
bog-hole1788
spew1794
wetness1805
stabble1821
slob1836
sludge1839
soak1839
mudbath1856
squire-trap1859
loblolly1865
glue-pot1892
swelter1894
poaching1920
1377 W. Langland Piers Plowman B. xv. 289 And also Marie Magdeleyne by mores lyued and dewes.
2. figurative. Something likened to dew in its operation or effect:
a. as coming with refreshing power or with gentle fall.
ΚΠ
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 9883 All wiþþutenn dæw Off haliȝ gastess frofre.
1508 Bp. J. Fisher Wks. (1876) 176 Make them moyst with the due of thy grace.
1544 Letanie in Exhort. vnto Prayer sig. C.iiiv The contynuall dewe of thy blessynge.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Coriolanus (1623) v. vi. 22 He watered his new Plants with dewes of Flattery. View more context for this quotation
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost iv. 614 The timely dew of sleep..inclines Our eye-lids. View more context for this quotation
1738 A. Pope One Thousand Seven Hundred & Thirty Eight 5 The gracious Dew of Pulpit Eloquence.
1819 P. B. Shelley Cenci iv. i. 64 Sleep, that healing dew of heaven.
a1822 P. B. Shelley Ginevra in Posthumous Poems (1824) 233 The dew of music more divine Tempers the deep emotions.
1847 J. Yeowell Chron. Anc. Brit. Church vi. 52 Hearts baptized with the heavenly dews of the Gospel.
b. as characteristic of the morning of life, of early years, like the ‘early dew’.
ΚΠ
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Psalms cix. [cx.] 3 Ye dewe of thy birth is of ye wombe of the mornynge.
1849 F. W. Robertson Serm. (1866) 1st Ser. iii. 53 Dried up the dew of fresh morning feeling.
1858 H. W. Longfellow Courtship Miles Standish i. 18 Having the dew of his youth, and the beauty thereof.
3. transferred.
a. Applied to moisture generally, especially that which appears in minute drops on any surface or exudes from any body.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > moisture or humidity > [noun] > esp. in minute drops
dewa1400
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 17682 Wit a deu mi face he wette.
1586 A. Day Eng. Secretorie i. sig. K5 Whom furres must fence..and dew of nappy ale cherish.
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 406 Pare his [sc. the horse's] hinder feet thin, vntill the deaw come out.
1610 G. Markham Maister-peece ii. c. 382 Raze both the quarters of the hoofe with a drawing-knife..so deepe that you may see the dew come foorth.
1631 D. Widdowes tr. W. A. Scribonius Nat. Philos. (new ed.) 56 Dew is a humor contained in the hollownesse of the members, and joyned to their substance.
1674 N. Fairfax Treat. Bulk & Selvedge 126 That cold and dew and clamminess, that goes to the hatching of a snails [egge].
1757 tr. J. G. Keyssler Trav. III. 50 Ballani do not feed on the gross parts of the sea water, but as it were on the subtile dew that penetrates through the stone.
a1822 P. B. Shelley Triumph of Life in Posthumous Poems (1824) 84 The fountains, whose melodious dew Out of their mossy cells for ever burst.
b. Moisture glistening in the eyes; tears. Hence funeral dew.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > sorrow or grief > lamentation or expression of grief > weeping > [noun] > a tear > tears
watereOE
salt waterc1400
moisture?c1425
brine1594
rheum1597
dew1598
lachrymas1602
1598 W. Shakespeare Love's Labour's Lost iv. iii. 27 The night of dew that on my cheekes downe flowes. View more context for this quotation
1626 Bp. J. Hall Contempl. VIII. O.T. xx. 69 These expostulations might haue fetched some dewes of pity from the eyes.
1649 W. Davenant Love & Honour iii, in Dramatic Wks. (1873) III. 134 Sure I could weep, but that my eyes Have not enough of funeral dew to melt Away.
1662 A. Cokayne Trag. Ovid iv. vii. 101 in Poems Shed no more tears!, You have..Spent too much of that precious dew.
1815 W. Scott Lord of Isles iv. xvi. 150 Those poor eyes that stream'd with dew.
1847 Ld. Tennyson Princess vii. 148 The dew Dwelt in her eyes, and softer all her shape And rounder show'd.
c. Perspiration, sweat.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > organs of excretion > excretions > perspirations > [noun] > sweat
swotec897
need-sweat?c1225
sweata1400
dead-sweat1609
muck sweat1627
strigment1646
mador1650
breathing sweat1657
lather1660
dew1674
cold sweat1707
death sweat1725
perspiration1725
toil-drop1802
persp.1923
1674 S. Vincent Young Gallant's Acad. 33 Thou feelest the fat Dew of thy body..run trickling down thy sides.
1796 R. Southey Joan of Arc viii. 211 The dews of death Stood on his livid cheek.
1815 W. Scott Lord of Isles v. xxvi. 208 Cold on his brow breaks terror's dew.
1859 Ld. Tennyson Enid in Idylls of King 31 The dew of their great labour,..flowing, drain'd their force.
d. With qualifying words, as Bacchus' dew, the juice of the grape, wine, or other fermented or distilled drink; mountain-dew, a fanciful term for whisky illicitly distilled on the mountains; dew of Glenlivat, Glenlivat whisky; †dew of vitriol (ros vitrioli).
ΚΠ
1559 W. Baldwin et al. Myrroure for Magistrates Clarence iii Sowst in Bacchus dewe.
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) Dew of Vitriol, a Name given by some Chymists to a kind of Phlegm or Water drawn from that Mineral Salt, by Distillation in Balneo Mariæ, or with a gentle Heat.
1800 tr. E. J. B. Bouillon-Lagrange Man. Course Chem. II. 84 There remains a whitish-grey mass, which formerly was called Vitriol Calcined to Whiteness. If you distil it in a retort, and collect the product, you will have first, a water slightly acid, called Dew of Vitriol.
1822 P. B. Shelley Zucca ix Full as a cup with the vine's burning dew.
1826 in W. Hone Every-day Bk. (1827) II. 610 Whiskey, or mountain..dew.
1836 E. Howard Rattlin xxxv Then came the whiskey—the real dew.
1840 Chambers's Jrnl. 9 94 The discomfited gaugers fled..leaving the victorious chief in undisturbed possession of the much coveted mountain-dew.
1884 Daily News 23 May 5/7 [They] cannot compete with the dew of Glenlivat.
4. Applied with qualification to surface deposits formed on plants, etc. (as by exudation, insects, parasitic vegetation), formerly imagined to be in origin akin to dew: see honeydew n., mildew n.
ΚΠ
1563 W. Fulke Goodle Gallerye Causes Meteors iv. f. 53v Ther is another kind of swete dewes, that falleth in England called the meldewes, which is as sweet as hony..There is also a bitter kynde of dewe that falleth vpon herbes, and lieth on them lyke brann or meale.
1660 Bp. J. Taylor Worthy Communicant Introd. 10 It will not be impossible to find honey or wholesome dewes upon all this variety of plants.
a1817 T. Dwight Trav. New-Eng. & N.-Y. (1821) II. 341 When it first exudes, it is very sweet to the taste; and has hence been commonly supposed to be the residuum of a particular kind of dew, called by the farmers honey-dew.
Compounds
C1. General attributive. (Especially frequent in poetical use.)
a. Attributive.
(a) ‘Of dew’.
dew-bead n.
ΚΠ
1832 W. Motherwell Poems 99 In every dew-bead glistening sheen.
1868 ‘G. Eliot’ Spanish Gypsy i. 41 The dew-bead, Gem of earth and sky begotten.
dew-blob n.
dew-damp n. and adj.
ΚΠ
1817 S. T. Coleridge Destiny of Nations in Sibylline Leaves 294 She the dew-damp wiped From off her brow.
1899 A. R. Cowan Hist. Kiss 86 The grass, still dew-damp in the glade.
1903 T. S. Moore Rout Amazons p. xxviii She..ordered the dew-damp hair.
dew-gem n. and adj.
dew-globe n.
ΚΠ
1820 P. B. Shelley Prometheus Unbound iv. i. 145 As the dissolving warmth of dawn may fold A half infrozen dew-globe, green, and gold, And crystalline.
dew-mist n.
ΚΠ
1820 P. B. Shelley Prometheus Unbound iii. iii. 108 The dew-mists of my sunless sleep.
dew-star n.
ΚΠ
1820 P. B. Shelley Prometheus Unbound ii. i. 70 As dew-stars glisten Then fade away.
dew-water n.
ΚΠ
c1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 151 Ðe teares..ben cleped rein water oðer deu water.
dew-web n.
ΚΠ
1813 J. Hogg Queen's Wake ii. x. 123 And dew-webs round the helmets weave.
(b) ‘Characterized by’ or ‘characterizing dew’.
dew-locks n.
ΚΠ
1648 R. Herrick Hesperides sig. F5v The light Hangs on the Dew-locks of the night.
dew-prime n.
ΚΠ
1872 R. Browning Fifine xxxiii Though dew-prime flee.
dew-silence n.
ΚΠ
1850 E. B. Browning Poems (new ed.) II. 165 Descend with sweet dew silence on my mountains.
dew-wind n.
ΚΠ
1828 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 23 412 The little waterfall of the wimpling burnie, that stands dishevelling there her tresses to the dew-wind.
b. Locative and originative.
dew-dance n.
dew-light n.
ΚΠ
1647 R. Herrick Star-Song in Noble Numbers 35 Spangled with deaw-light.
c. Similative, ‘like’ or ‘as dew’.
dew-burning adj.
ΚΠ
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene i. xi. sig. L3v His bright deaw-burning blade.
dew-cold adj.
ΚΠ
1817 T. Moore Lalla Rookh 283 She who leans..pale, sunk, aghast, With brow against the dew-cold mast.
dew-grey adj.
ΚΠ
1932 W. Faulkner Light in August vii. 149 Against the dewgray earth..fireflies drifted.
d. Objective and objective genitive.
dew-brusher n.
ΚΠ
1854 J. W. Warter Last of Old Squires v. 51 He was what the Persians call a dew-brusher..Ten to one but the labourer met him as he was going to his work.
dew-dropping adj.
ΚΠ
1597 W. Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet i. iv. 103 The dew-dropping south. View more context for this quotation
e. Instrumental.
dew-bedabbled adj.
dew-bediamonded adj.
ΚΠ
1887 R. L. Stevenson Underwoods Every fairy wheel and thread Of cobweb dew-bediamonded.
dew-bespangled adj.
ΚΠ
1727 J. Gay Fables I. l. 171 As forth she went at early dawn To taste the dew-besprinkled lawn.
dew-besprent adj.
ΚΠ
1637 J. Milton Comus 19 The savourie herbe Of Knot-grass dew-besprent.
dew-bright adj.
ΚΠ
1727 J. Thomson Summer 14 Aslant the Dew-bright Earth, and colour'd Air.
dew-clad adj.
ΚΠ
1847 Mischief of Muses 35 The moisture of the dew-clad grass.
dew-dabbled adj.
ΚΠ
1818 J. Keats Endymion i. 35 The poppies hung Dew-dabbled on their stalks.
dew-drenched adj.
ΚΠ
1885 W. B. Yeats in Dublin Univ. Rev. Apr. 56/2 And from the dew-drench'd wood I've sped.
1919 V. Woolf Night & Day xvi. 206 Her rather pale, dew-drenched look.
dew-gemmed adj.
ΚΠ
1823 in J. Baillie Coll. of Poems 228 Dew-gemm'd in the morning ray.
dew-laden adj.
ΚΠ
1859 ‘G. Eliot’ Adam Bede I. i. iv. 88 The dew-laden grass.
dew-pearled adj.
ΚΠ
1841 R. Browning Pippa Passes i, in Bells & Pomegranates No. I 6/2 The hill-side's dew-pearled; The lark's on the wing.
dew-soaked adj.
ΚΠ
1941 W. de la Mare Bells & Grass 139 Dew-soaked shoes.
dew-sprent adj.
ΚΠ
1850 J. S. Blackie tr. Æschylus Lyrical Dramas I. 13 My dew-sprent dreamless couch.
1884 J. A. Symonds Shakspere's Predecessors vii. §3. 263 Abroad in dew-sprent meadows.
dew-sprinkled adj.
ΚΠ
1733 W. Shenstone Pastoral Ballad iv. 33 The sweets of a dew-sprinkled rose.
dew-wet adj.
f. Parasynthetic.
dew-bent adj.
ΚΠ
1729 J. Thomson Hymn Solitude in Misc. Poems Several Hands 348 Just as the dew-bent Rose is born.
dew-dripped adj.
ΚΠ
1812 G. Colman Poet. Vagaries 98 Dew-dript Evening.
dew-drunk adj.
ΚΠ
1893 R. Le Gallienne in Westm. Gaz. 16 Feb. 2/3 See how yonder goes, Dew-drunk..Yon Shelley-lark.
dew-empearled adj.
ΚΠ
1594 M. Drayton Ideas Mirrour xiii. sig. C3 Where Nightingales in Arden sit and sing, Amongst the dainty dew-impearled flowers.
1830 Ld. Tennyson Ode to Memory ii, in Poems 59 The dewimpearléd winds of dawn.
dew-fed adj.
ΚΠ
1832 Ld. Tennyson Lotos-eaters: Choric Song iii, in Poems (new ed.) 112 Sunsteeped at noon, and in the moon Nightly dewfed.
dew-lipped adj.
ΚΠ
1818 J. Keats Endymion ii. 72 Just as the morning south Disparts a dew-lipp'd rose.
1853 W. C. Bryant Poems (new ed.) 19 When the dew-lipped Spring comes on.
dew-lit adj.
ΚΠ
1830 Ld. Tennyson Adeline in Poems 71 Those dewlit eyes of thine.
C2. Special combinations.† dew-hopper n. Obsolete a name for the hare (see deuding n.). † dew-pear n. name of a delicate kind of pear (obsolete).† dew-piece n. Scottish Obsolete = dew-bit n.
dew-beam n. poetic a ray of light reflected from a dewdrop.
ΚΠ
a1822 P. B. Shelley Witch of Atlas xvi, in Posthumous Poems (1824) 34 Woven from dew-beams while the moon yet slept.
dew-bit n. dialect a small meal or portion of food taken in the early morning, before the regular breakfast.
ΚΠ
1863 W. Barnes Gram. & Gloss. Dorset Dial. Dew-bit, the first meal in the morning, not so substantial as a regular breakfast. Also in Berksh., Hampsh., W. Somerset Gloss.
dew-board n. a board used as a cover to keep off the dew.
ΚΠ
1800 R. Warner Walk Western Counties 64 [We] were obliged to sleep for several weeks in the shell of the tenement, with no other covering (for it was not roofed) than a dew-board.
dew-cap n. (see quot.).
ΚΠ
1879 R. A. Proctor Pleasant Ways Sci. xvi. 364 A cylinder of tin or card, called a dew-cap, is made to project beyond the glass [of the telescope], and thus to act as a screen, and prevent radiation.
dew-drink n. (see quot., and cf. dew-bit n.).
ΚΠ
a1825 R. Forby Vocab. E. Anglia (1830) Dew-drink, the first allowance of beer to harvest men, before they begin their day's work.
Thesaurus »
Categories »
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > fruit or a fruit > pear > [noun] > other types of pear
calewey1377
choke-pear1530
muscadel1555
lording1573
bon-chrétienc1575
Burgundian pear1578
king pear1585
amiot1600
bergamot1600
butter pear1600
dew-pear1600
greening1600
bottle pear1601
gourd-pear1601
critling1611
pearc1612
nutmeg1629
rosewater pear1629
amber pear1638
Christian1651
chesil1664
diego1664
frith-pear1664
primate1664
saffron pear1664
Windsor pear1664
nonsuch1674
muscat1675
burnt-cat1676
ambrette1686
sanguinole1693
satin1693
St. Germain pear1693
amadot1706
burree1719
Doyenne1731
beurré1736
colmar1736
chaumontel1755
Marie Louise1817
seckel1817
vergaloo1828
Passe Colmar1837
glou-morceau1859
London sugar1860
Kieffer pear1880
sand pear1880
sandy pear1884
nashi1892
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular types of fruit > [noun] > pear > other types of
calewey1377
honey peara1400
pome-pear1440
pome-wardena1513
choke-pear1530
muscadel1555
worry pear1562
lording1573
bon-chrétienc1575
Burgundian pear1578
king pear1585
pound pear1585
poppering1597
wood of Jerusalem1597
muscadine1598
amiot1600
bergamot1600
butter pear1600
dew-pear1600
greening1600
mollart1600
roset1600
wax pear1600
bottle pear1601
gourd-pear1601
Venerian pear1601
musk pear1611
rose pear1611
pusill1615
Christian1629
nutmeg1629
rolling pear1629
surreine1629
sweater1629
amber pear1638
Venus-pear1648
horse-pear1657
Martin1658
russet1658
rousselet1660
diego1664
frith-pear1664
maudlin1664
Messire Jean1664
primate1664
sovereign1664
spindle-pear1664
stopple-pear1664
sugar-pear1664
virgin1664
Windsor pear1664
violet-pear1666
nonsuch1674
muscat1675
burnt-cat1676
squash pear1676
rose1678
Longueville1681
maiden-heart1685
ambrette1686
vermilion1691
admiral1693
sanguinole1693
satin1693
St. Germain pear1693
pounder pear1697
vine-pear1704
amadot1706
marchioness1706
marquise1706
Margaret1707
short-neck1707
musk1708
burree1719
marquis1728
union pear1728
Doyenne pear1731
Magdalene1731
beurré1736
colmar1736
Monsieur Jean1736
muscadella1736
swan's egg1736
chaumontel1755
St Michael's pear1796
Williams1807
Marie Louise1817
seckel1817
Bartlett1828
vergaloo1828
Passe Colmar1837
glou-morceau1859
London sugar1860
snow-pear1860
Comice1866
Kieffer pear1880
sand pear1880
sandy pear1884
snowy pear1884
1600 R. Surflet tr. C. Estienne & J. Liébault Maison Rustique iii. xlix. 537 Tender and delicate peares, such as..the dew peare.
ΚΠ
1685 G. Sinclair Satans Invisible World Discovered 89 When I was eating my due piece this morning.
dew-plant n. (a) a name for the ice-plant (Mesembryanthemum), and for the sundew (Drosera); (b) a plant nourished with dew (nonce-use).
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Droseraceae (sundew and allies) > [noun]
rosa solis1568
ros solis1578
sundew1578
youthgrass1584
lust-wort1597
moor grass1597
red rot1597
youthwort1597
rose of the sun1631
drosera1801
dew-plant1869
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > non-British plants or herbs > [noun] > tropical > ice-plant
ice plant1753
diamond-ficoides1767
dew-plant1869
1869 J. Ruskin Queen of Air §81 You are to divide the whole family of the herbs of the field into three great groups—Drosidæ, Carices, Gramineæ—dew-plants, sedges, and grasses.
1884 W. Miller Dict. Eng. Names Plants Dew-plant, Mesembryanthemum glabrum.
dew-ripen v. = dew-ret v.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > treating or processing textile materials > treating or processing flax, hemp, or jute > treat or process flax, hemp, or jute [verb (transitive)] > ret > in dew
dew-ripen1807
dew-ret1808
1807 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. (new ed.) II. 218 What is called dew ripen or ret the produce.
dew-shoe n. translation of Old Norse döggskor (see quot.).
ΚΠ
1880 J. S. Stallybrass tr. J. Grimm Teutonic Mythol. I. 387 When the godlike Sigurðr strode through the..corn, the dew-shoe of his seven-span sword was even with the upright ears. Note. Döggskôr, Sw. doppsko, the heel of the sword's sheath, which usually brushes the dew.
dew-stone n. ‘a species of limestone, found in Nottinghamshire, which collects a large quantity of dew on its surface’ (O.).
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1895; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
dewv.
/djuː/ a. intransitive. To give or produce dew; impersonal to fall as dew (cf. it rains, snows, etc.). Obsolete or archaic.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > precipitation or atmospheric moisture > dew > give or fall as dew [verb (intransitive)]
dewa1382
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Isa. xlv. 8 Deweth ȝee heuenus fro aboue [a1425 Sende ȝe out dew].
a1400 [implied in: K. Alis. 914 Theo sunne ariseth, and fallith the dewyng; Theo nessche clay hit makith clyng. (at dewing n. 1)].
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 120 Dewyn or yeve dewe, roro.
1530 Myroure Oure Ladye (Fawkes) (1873) ii. 148 Rorate, Dew heuens from aboue.
1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Dew or droppe lyke dewe, roro.
a1650 G. Boate Nat. Hist. Ireland (1726) 93 It deweth exceedingly in the hot and dry countries.
1756 T. Birch Hist. Royal Soc. I. 246 It did not dew upon those parts, where trees lay buried under ground.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going or coming out > go or come out [verb (intransitive)] > exude > as dew
dew1652
1652 T. Pestill For Author in E. Benlowes Theophila When This Manna dew'd from your inspired Pen.
1652 E. Benlowes Theophila iv. xxv. 54 Meat came from th' Eater, from the Strong did Dew Sweetnesse.
2.
a. transitive. To wet with or as with dew; to bedew; to moisten.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > condition of being or making wet > make wet [verb (transitive)] > with or as with dew
dewc1175
adewc1425
endew?1518
irrorate1623
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > precipitation or atmospheric moisture > dew > cover with dew [verb (transitive)]
bedewa1398
dew1821
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 13848 To watttrenn & to dæwenn swa. Þurrh beȝȝske. & sallte tæress. Þatt herrte.
a1325 Prose Psalter vi. 6 Ich shal dewey my couertour wyth min teres.
?1543 T. Phaer tr. J. Goeurot Regiment of Lyfe sig. Fii Take a sponefull of hote asshes, and dewe them wyth good wyne.
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene i. xi. sig. L5v Ouerflowed all the fertile plaine, As it had deawed bene with timely raine.
1615 H. Crooke Μικροκοσμογραϕια 821 To water or dew some partes that stoode need of moysture.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 2 (1623) iii. ii. 344 Giue me thy hand, That I may dew it with my mournfull teares. View more context for this quotation
1680 T. Otway Orphan ii. 18 Cold sweat Dew'd all my Face.
1821 W. C. Wells Ess. Dew (1866) 7 Grass after having been dewed in the evening, is never found dry until after sunrise.
1830 J. F. W. Herschel Prelim. Disc. Study Nat. Philos. ii. vi. 162 The cooling of the exposed surface of the body dewed below the temperature of the air.
a1851 D. M. Moir Castle of Time xxi Moloch's monstrous shrines are dew'd with human blood.
b. figurative. (Cf. ‘bedew’, ‘steep’ in figurative use.)
ΚΠ
?1518 A. Barclay tr. D. Mancinus Myrrour Good Maners sig. Aivv As frutefull nutryment To dewe them in vertue: as plantes to augment.
1610 G. Fletcher Christs Victorie 54 While, deaw'd in easie sleepe, dead Peter lies.
a1631 J. Donne Serm. (1962) X. 146 But infected, and dewed with these frivolous, nay pernicious apparitions, and Revelations.
1810 W. Scott Lady of Lake i. 38 Fairy strains of music fall, Every sense in slumber dewing.
1866 H. Bushnell Vicarious Sacrifice iii. iii. 285 She..dewing it thus with her tender mitigations.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > intrinsicality or inherence > introduction or bringing in > introduce or bring something in [verb (transitive)] > infuse
sheda1325
bedew1340
distil1393
informa1398
transfusec1425
pourc1451
infudea1500
infuse1526
tan1530
colour1536
suck1549
imbrue1565
dewc1572
inspire1576
steep1603
infect1605
imbreathe1609
impregn1652
transfund1670
influence1691
bleed1866
render1885
taste1904
c1572 W. Forrest Theophilus 434 in Anglia (1884) 7 92 The devill in the harte of the busshoppe dyd dewe His divillishe stirringis.
1591 Troublesome Raigne Iohn ii. sig. C2v The heauens dewing fauours on my head.
1593 T. Nashe Christs Teares f. 1 O dew thy Spyrit plentifully into my incke.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going or coming out > go or come out [verb (intransitive)] > exude
syec893
sickerc897
weesec1000
bleedc1305
oozea1398
sweata1425
weeslea1555
sew1565
exude1574
outstreata1631
exudate1646
dew1658
suppurate1693
strain1707
the world > matter > liquid > condition of being or making wet > condition of being slightly wet > be or become slightly wet [verb (intransitive)] > become slightly wet
undryc1440
dank1590
dew1658
dampen1686
moisten1755
bemoisten1821
1658 W. Johnson tr. F. Würtz Surgeons Guid i. viii. 34 Wounds that are thus compelled to dew, will hardly come to healing.
Derivatives
dewed adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > precipitation or atmospheric moisture > dew > [adjective] > covered or wet with dew
dewyOE
fordewed1430
bedewed1530
dewed1552
rorulent1656
dew-dropped1744
1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Dewed or wete wyth dewe, roratus.
1593 R. Southwell St. Peter's Complaint 33 Dew'd eyes, and prostrate prayers.
1830 J. F. W. Herschel Prelim. Disc. Study Nat. Philos. ii. vi. 163 The cooling of the dewed surface by radiation.
ˈdewing adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > precipitation or atmospheric moisture > dew > [adjective] > falling as dew
dewing1635
rorant1686
1635 J. Swan Speculum Mundi v. §2. 139 Which can have no existence or being, but in a dewing or distilling cloud.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1895; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
> as lemmas
D.E.W.
D.E.W. n. distant early warning; so Dew line (see quot. 1956).
Π
1955 Times 18 Aug. 6/3 Two task forces, totalling 3,000 men, now on their way to the Arctic regions of Canada, will be employed in erecting more than 50 radar stations there as part of the distant early warning (D.E.W.) line. Seven radar stations are known to be working in Greenland, besides those incorporated in the two newer warning lines across Canada, named Mid-Canada and Pine Tree.
1956 W. A. Heflin U.S. Air Force Dict. 165/1 Dew line, a line of radar stations at about the 70th parallel on the North American continent, financed by the American government but undertaken in cooperation with the Canadian government.
1957 P. Frank Seven Days to Never ii. 53 The DEW line—the Distant Early Warning radar and interceptor net stretching from Alaska to Greenland.
<
n.a800
v.c1175as lemmas