slew
1 of 4noun
slew
2 of 4past tense of slay
slew
3 of 4verb
transitive verb
intransitive verb
slew
4 of 4less common spelling of slough entry 1 sense 1b
Did you know?
Slew appeared as an American colloquialism in the early 19th century. Its origins are unclear, but it is perhaps taken from the Irish slua, a descendant of Old Irish slúag, meaning "army," "host," or "throng." Slew has several homographs (words that are spelled alike but different in meaning, derivation, or pronunciation) in English. These include: slew as the past tense of the verb slay; slew as a spelling variant of slough, a word which is also commonly pronounced \\SLOO\\ and which means "swamp," "an inlet on a river," or "a creek in a marsh or tide flat"; and the verb slew, meaning "to turn, veer, or skid."
Synonyms
Noun
- abundance
- barrel
- basketful
- boatload
- bucket
- bunch
- bundle
- bushel
- carload
- chunk
- deal
- dozen
- fistful
- gobs
- good deal
- heap
- hundred
- lashings [chiefly British]
- lashins
- loads
- lot
- mass
- mess
- mountain
- much
- multiplicity
- myriad
- oodles
- pack
- passel
- peck
- pile
- plateful
- plenitude
- plentitude
- plenty
- pot
- potful
- profusion
- quantity
- raft
- reams
- scads
- sheaf
- shipload
- sight
- spate
- stack
- store
- ton
- truckload
- volume
- wad
- wealth
- yard
Example Sentences
Word History
Noun
perhaps from Irish slua army, host, throng, from Old Irish slúag; akin to Lithuanian slaugyti to tend
Verb
origin unknown
Noun
1839, in the meaning defined above
Verb
circa 1769, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1
Kids Definition
slew
past tense of slay
slews
noun
Synonyms & Similar Words
- loads
- tons
- piles
- bunches
- dozens
- hundreds
- hundred
- lots
- dozen
- chunks
- wealths
- deals
- myriads
- stacks
- quantities
- scads
- rafts
- bundles
- plenties
- oodles
- heaps
- boatloads
- masses
- gobs
- reams
- truckloads
- abundances
- basketfuls
- bushels
- buckets
- much
- platefuls
- fistfuls
- wads
- sights
- shiploads
- yards
- mountains
- spates
- barrels
- carloads
- profusions
- volumes
- sheaves
- multiplicities
- lashings
- pecks
- packs
- pots
- stores
- thousands
- plenitudes
- messes
- potfuls
- good deals
- multitudes
- all kinds (of)
- plentitudes
- basketsful
- quite a bit
- millions
- lashins
- floods
- million
- zillions
- hordes
- passels
- overmuch
- surfeits
- scores
- plagues
- bonanzas
- plethoras
- legions
- excesses
- rashes
- embarrassments
- swarms
- surpluses
- epidemics
- hosts
- seas
- oversupplies
- overabundances
- bevies
- deluges
- jillions
- gazillions
- throngs
- trillions
- flocks
- superfluities
- armies
- redundancies
- crams
- herds
- overflows
- overages
- kazillions
- crowds
- presses
- crushes
- mobs
- superabundances
- overkills
- droves
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- spots
- bits
- fragments
- traces
- hints
- shades
- specks
- suspicions
- strains
- shadows
- tastes
- rays
- molecules
- sprinklings
- grains
- atoms
- handfuls
- particles
- ounces
- streaks
- dots
- glimmers
- mouthfuls
- touches
- peanuts
- little
- aces
- dabs
- sections
- driblets
- scruples
- pinches
- mites
- licks
- scraps
- motes
- flecks
- drams
- nips
- pittances
- shreds
- granules
- portions
- sprinkles
- nubbins
- pieces
- handsful
- iotas
- drops
- smidgens
- crumbs
- smidges
- dashes
- shots
- flyspecks
- smatterings
- smidgeons
- jots
- morsels
- tittles
- scintillas
- deficiencies
- smidgins
- modicums
- shortages
- smatters
- lacks
- absences
- whits
- wants
- deficits
- dearths
- inadequacies
- scarcities
- famines
- insufficiencies
- poverties
- paucities
- undersupplies
- thermostatics
- thermostating
- thermostats
- thermostatted
- thermostatting
- thermostimulation
- thermosyphon
- thermosyphons
- thermotaxes
- thermotaxis
- thermotherapies
- thermotics
- thermotropic
- thermotropism
- thermotropisms
- thermowell
- therms
- thero
- thero-
- therodont
- therology
- theromorph
- Theromorpha
- therophyte
- theropod