Stew

• POS: Noun, Verb (usu participle), Verb (intransitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

Stew, n. [Cf. Stow.].

•  A small pond or pool where fish are kept for the table; a vivarium.  Chaucer. Evelyn.  [1913 Webster]
•  An artificial bed of oysters.  [1913 Webster]

Stew, v. t. [OE. stuven, OF. estuver, F. étuver, fr. OF. estuve, F. étuve, a sweating house, a room heated for a bath; probably of Teutonic origin, and akin to E. stove. See Stove, and cf. Stive to stew.].

 To boil slowly, or with the simmering or moderate heat; to seethe; to cook in a little liquid, over a gentle fire, without boiling; as, to stew meat; to stew oysters; to stew apples.  [1913 Webster]

Stew, v. i. 

 To be seethed or cooked in a slow, gentle manner, or in heat and moisture.  [1913 Webster]

Stew, n. [OE. stue, stuwe, OF. estuve. See Stew, v. t.].

•  A place of stewing or seething; a place where hot bathes are furnished; a hothouse.  [1913 Webster]

  "As burning Ætna from his boiling stew
  Doth belch out flames."  [1913 Webster]

  "The Lydians were inhibited by Cyrus to use any armor, and give themselves to baths and stews."  [1913 Webster]
•  A brothel; -- usually in the plural.  Bacon. South.  [1913 Webster]

  "There be that hate harlots, and never were at the stews."  [1913 Webster]
•  A prostitute.  Sir A. Weldon.  [1913 Webster]
•  A dish prepared by stewing; as, a stewof pigeons.  [1913 Webster]
•  A state of agitating excitement; a state of worry; confusion; as, to be in a stew.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Stew, v. & n.
--v.
1 tr. & intr. cook by long simmering in a closed vessel with liquid.
2 intr. colloq. be oppressed by heat or humidity, esp. in a confined space.
3 intr. colloq. a suffer prolonged embarrassment, anxiety, etc. b (foll. by over) fret or be anxious.
4 tr. make (tea) bitter or strong with prolonged brewing.
5 tr. (as stewed adj.) colloq. drunk.
6 intr. (often foll. by over) colloq. study hard.
--n.
1 a dish of stewed meat etc.
2 colloq. an agitated or angry state (be in a stew).
3 archaic a a hot bath. b (in pl.) a brothel.

Idiom

stew in one's own juice be left to suffer the consequences of one's own actions.

Stew, n. Brit.
1 an artificial oyster-bed.
2 a pond or large tank for keeping fish for eating.

Etymology

ME f. F estui f. estoier confine ult. f. L studium: see STUDY

THESAURUS

Stew

B-girl, Cyprian, Irish stew, Paphian, ado, agitation, agonize, all sorts, all-overs, angst, anxiety, anxiety hysteria, anxiety neurosis, anxious bench, anxious concern, anxious seat, anxiousness, apply the mind, apprehension, apprehensiveness, assemblage, assortment, baffle, bafflement, bagnio, bake, barbecue, baste, bawdy house, bawdyhouse, be in heat, be livid, be pissed, befuddlement, bewilderment, bind, blanch, blaze, bloom, bluster, boil, booze up, boozehound, boozify, bordello, bother, botheration, bottle sucker, bouillabaisse, braise, breathless impatience, brew, broad spectrum, broil, brothel, brown, bum, burn, burn to, burst, bustle, call girl, cankerworm of care, care, carry on, cathouse, chafe, chafing, chaos, choke, chowder, churn, clip joint, cloud, clutch, coddle, combust, commotion, complication, concern, concernment, confoundment, confusion, conglomeration, cook, crib, crock, crunch, curry, daughter of joy, daze, den, den of thieves, den of vice, devil, dilemma, discombobulation, discomfiture, discomposure, disconcert, disconcertedness, disconcertion, disconcertment, disorder, disorderly house, disorganization, disorientation, disquiet, disquietude, distill, distress, disturbance, dither, dive, do, do to perfection, dread, dudgeon, dump, eagerness, elbow bender, embarrassing position, embarrassment, enigma, erring sister, etuvee, excitement, fallen woman, fear, feery-fary, ferment, fidgetiness, fille de joie, fine how-do-you-do, fire, fit, fix, flame, flame up, flap, flare, flare up, fleshpots, flicker, flummox, flurry, flush, fluster, flusteration, flustration, flutter, flutteriness, foam, fog, foofaraw, foreboding, forebodingness, frenzy, fret, fret and fume, fretfulness, fretting, fricassee, frizz, frizzle, fry, fuddle, fuddlement, fume, fuss, fussiness, gallimaufry, gasp, get excited, ginhound, glow, go on, goulash, griddle, grill, gyp joint, hammer at, hammer away at, hardly wait, harlot, hash, haste, hasten, have a conniption, haze, heat, hell to pay, high dudgeon, hobble, hodgepodge, hole, hooch hound, hooker, hot water, hotchpot, hotchpotch, house of assignation, house of joy, house of prostitution, how-do-you-do, hubbub, huff, hullabaloo, hustler, imbroglio, impatience, impatientness, impetuousness, incandesce, inquietude, itch to, jam, joint, jumble, jump the gun, lair, lather, lush, lusher, maelstrom, magpie, malaise, mash, maze, meat stew, medley, melange, meretrix, mess, miff, mingle-mangle, miscellany, misgiving, mishmash, mist, mix, mixed bag, mixture, morass, muddle, muddlement, mulligan, mulligan stew, mystery, nervous strain, nervous tension, nervousness, nonplus, odds and ends, olio, olla, olla podrida, omnium-gatherum, oven-bake, overanxiety, overtake, oyster stew, paella, painted woman, pan, pan-broil, panel den, panel house, pant, parboil, parch, parlous straits, pass, pasticcio, pastiche, patchwork, perplexity, perturbation, pet, pickle, pinch, pins and needles, pique, pissed off, plaster, plight, poach, pollute, pother, potpourri, poule, predicament, prepare, prepare food, pretty pass, pretty pickle, pretty predicament, problem, prostitute, pucker, puzzle, puzzle over, puzzlement, quagmire, quandary, quicksand, radiate heat, rage, ragout, raise Cain, raise hell, raise the devil, raise the roof, rant, rant and rave, rave, red-light district, restiveness, restlessness, riddle, roast, ruffle, rum hound, rummy, salad, salmagundi, sauce, saute, scald, scallop, scarlet woman, scorch, scramble, scrape, sear, seethe, seraglio, shimmer with heat, shirr, shuffle, simmer, sink of iniquity, sizzle, slough, smoke, smolder, smother, smoulder, soak, solicitude, souse, spark, spasm, sponge, sporting, sporting house, spot, spurt, squeeze, squirm, state, steam, stew over, stews, sticky wicket, stifle, stir, stir-fry, stone, storm, strain, strait, straits, streetwalker, suffocate, suspense, swack, swamp, sweat, sweat and stew, sweat it out, swelter, swillbelly, swillbowl, swillpot, swirl, swivet, take on, tenderloin, tense readiness, tension, think hard, throw a fit, tiff, tight spot, tight squeeze, tightrope, tipsify, tizzy, to-do, toast, tricky spot, trouble, tumult, turmoil, twitter, twitteration, unassuredness, uneasiness, unfortunate woman, unholy mess, unpatientness, unquiet, unquietness, unsettlement, upset, vexation, vortex, wait impatiently, what you will, whirl, white slave, whore, whorehouse, wino, worry, zeal

ROGET THESAURUS

Stew

Difficulty

N difficulty, hardness, impracticability, tough work, hard work, uphill work, hard task, Herculean task, Augean task, task of Sisyphus, Sisyphean labor, tough job, teaser, rasper, dead lift, dilemma, embarrassment, deadlock, perplexity, intricacy, entanglement, complexity, cross fire, awkwardness, delicacy, ticklish card to play, knot, Gordian knot, dignus vindice nodus, net, meshes, maze, coil, crooked path, involvement, nice point, delicate point, subtle point, knotty point, vexed question, vexata quaestio, poser, puzzle, paradox, hard nut to crack, nut to crack, bone to pick, crux, pons asinorum, where the shoe pinches, nonplus, quandary, strait, pass, pinch, pretty pass, stress, brunt, critical situation, crisis, trial, rub, emergency, exigency, scramble, scrape, hobble, slough, quagmire, hot water, hornet's nest, sea of troubles, peck of troubles, pretty kettle of fish, pickle, stew, imbroglio, mess, ado, false position, set fast, stand, standstill, deadlock, dead set, fix, horns of a dilemma, cul de sac, hitch, stumbling block, crab, curmudgeon, difficult, not easy, hard, tough, troublesome, toilsome, irksome, operose, laborious, onerous, arduous, Herculean, formidable, sooner said than done, more easily said than done, easier said than done, difficult to deal with, hard to deal with, ill-conditioned, crabbed, crabby, not to be handled with kid gloves, not made with rose water, awkward, unwieldy, unmanageable, intractable, stubborn, perverse, refractory, plaguy, trying, thorny, rugged, knotted, knotty, invious, pathless, trackless, labyrinthine, intricate, complicated, impracticable, not feasible, desperate, embarrassing, perplexing, delicate, ticklish, critical, beset with difficulties, full of difficulties, surrounded by difficulties, entangled by difficulties, encompassed with difficulties, under a difficulty, in a box, in difficulty, in hot water, in the suds, in a cleft stick, in a fix, in the wrong box, in a scrape, in deep water, in a fine pickle, in extremis, between two stools, between Scylla and Charybdis, surrounded by shoals, surrounded by breakers, surrounded by quicksands, at cross purposes, not out of the wood, reduced to straits, hard pressed, sorely pressed, run hard, pinched, put to it, straitened, hard up, hard put to it, hard set, put to one's shifts, puzzled, at a loss, at the end of one's tether, at the end of one's rope, at one's wit's end, at a nonplus, at a standstill, graveled, nonplused, nonplussed, stranded, aground, stuck fast, set fast, up a tree, at bay, aux abois, driven into a corner, driven from pillar to post, driven to extremity, driven to one's wit's end, driven to the wall, au bout de son Latin, out of one's depth, thrown out, accomplished with difficulty, hard-fought, hard-earned, with difficulty, with much ado, barely, hardly, uphill, against the stream, against the grain, d rebours, invita Minerva, in the teeth of, at a pinch, upon a pinch, at long odds, against long odds, ay there's the rub, hic labor hoc opus, things are come to a pretty pass, ab inconvenienti, ad astra per aspera, acun chemin de fleurs ne conduit a la gloire.

Impurity

N impurity, uncleanness, immodesty, grossness, indelicacy, indecency, impudicity, obscenity, ribaldry, Fescennine, smut, bawdry, double entente, equivoque, concupiscence, lust, carnality, flesh, salacity, pruriency, lechery, lasciviency, lubricity, Sadism, sapphism, incontinence, intrigue, faux pas, amour, amourette, gallantry, debauchery, libertinish, libertinage, fornication, liaison, wenching, venery, dissipation, seduction, defloration, defilement, abuse, violation, rape, incest, prostitution, social evil, harlotry, stupration, whoredom, concubinage, cuckoldom, adultery, advoutry, crim, con, free love, seraglio, harem, brothel, bagnio, stew, bawdyhouse, cat house, lupanar, house of ill fame, bordel, bordello, impure, unclean, not to be mentioned to ears polite, immodest, shameless, indecorous, indelicate, indecent, Fescennine, loose, risque, coarse, gross, broad, free, equivocal, smutty, fulsome, ribald, obscene, bawdy, pornographic, concupiscent, prurient, lickerish, rampant, lustful, carnal, carnal-minded, lewd, lascivious, lecherous, libidinous, erotic, ruttish, salacious, Paphian, voluptuous, goatish, must, musty, unchaste, light, wanton, licentious, debauched, dissolute, of loose character, of easy virtue, frail, gay, riggish, incontinent, meretricious, rakish, gallant, dissipated, no better than she should be, on the town, on the streets, on the pave, on the loose, adulterous, incestuous, bestial.

Feeling

N feeling, suffering, endurance, tolerance, sufferance, supportance, experience, response, sympathy, impression, inspiration, affection, sensation, emotion, pathos, deep sense, warmth, glow, unction, gusto, vehemence, fervor, fervency, heartiness, cordiality, earnestness, eagerness, empressement, gush, ardor, zeal, passion, enthusiasm, verve, furore, fanaticism, excitation of feeling, fullness of the heart, passion, ecstasy, blush, suffusion, flush, hectic, tingling, thrill, turn, shock, agitation, quiver, heaving, flutter, flurry, fluster, twitter, tremor, throb, throbbing, pulsation, palpitation, panting, trepidation, perturbation, ruffle, hurry of spirits, pother, stew, ferment, state of excitement, feeling, sentient, sensuous, sensorial, sensory, emotive, emotional, of feeling, with feeling, warm, quick, lively, smart, strong, sharp, acute, cutting, piercing, incisive, keen, keen as a razor, trenchant, pungent, racy, piquant, poignant, caustic, impressive, deep, profound, indelible, deep felt, home felt, heartfelt, swelling, soul-stirring, deep-mouthed, heart-expanding, electric, thrilling, rapturous, ecstatic, earnest, wistful, eager, breathless, fervent, fervid, gushing, passionate, warm-hearted, hearty, cordial, sincere, zealous, enthusiastic, glowing, ardent, burning, red-hot, fiery, flaming, boiling over, pervading, penetrating, absorbing, rabid, raving, feverish, fanatical, hysterical, impetuous, impressed with, moved with, touched with, affected with, penetrated with, seized with, imbued with, devoured by, wrought up, struck all of a heap, rapt, in a quiver, enraptured, heart and soul, from the bottom of one's heart, ab imo pectore, at heart, con amore, heartily, devoutly, over head and ears, head over heels, the heart big, the heart full, the heart swelling, the heart beating, the heart pulsating, the heart throbbing, the heart thumping, the heart beating high, the heart melting, the heart overflowing, the heart bursting, the heart breaking, the heart goes out, a heart as big as all outdoors (sympathy).

Excitability

N excitability, impetuosity, vehemence, boisterousness, turbulence, impatience, intolerance, nonendurance, irritability, itching, wincing, disquiet, disquietude, restlessness, fidgets, fidgetiness, agitation, trepidation, perturbation, ruffle, hurry, fuss, flurry, fluster, flutter, pother, stew, ferment, whirl, buck fever, hurry-skurry, thrill, state of excitement, fever of excitement, transport, passion, excitement, flush, heat, fever, heat, fire, flame, fume, blood boiling, tumult, effervescence, ebullition, boiling over, whiff, gust, story, tempest, scene, breaking out, burst, fit, paroxysm, explosion, outbreak, outburst, agony, violence, fierceness, rage, fury, furor, furore, desperation, madness, distraction, raving, delirium, phrensy, frenzy, hysterics, intoxication, tearing passion, raging passion, anger, fascination, infatuation, fanaticism, Quixotism, Quixotry, tete montee, excitable, easily excited, in an excitable state, high-strung, irritable, impatient, intolerant, feverish, febrile, hysterical, delirious, mad, moody, maggoty- headed, unquiet, mercurial, electric, galvanic, hasty, hurried, restless, fidgety, fussy, chafing, startlish, mettlesome, high-mettled, skittish, vehement, demonstrative, violent, wild, furious, fierce, fiery, hot-headed, madcap, overzealous, enthusiastic, impassioned, fanatical, rabid, rampant, clamorous, uproarious, turbulent, tempestuous, tumultuary, boisterous, impulsive, impetuous, passionate, uncontrolled, uncontrollable, ungovernable, irrepressible, stanchless, inextinguishable, burning, simmering, volcanic, ready to burst forth, volatile, excited, exciting, Int, pish!, pshaw!, noli me tangere, filled with fury, rapt, inspir'd, maggiore fretta minore atto.

Pain

N mental suffering, pain, dolor, suffering, sufferance, ache, smart, passion, displeasure, dissatisfaction, discomfort, discomposure, disquiet, malaise, inquietude, uneasiness, vexation of spirit, taking, discontent, dejection, weariness, anhedonia, annoyance, irritation, worry, infliction, visitation, plague, bore, bother, botheration, stew, vexation, mortification, chagrin, esclandre, mauvais quart d'heur, care, anxiety, solicitude, trouble, trial, ordeal, fiery ordeal, shock, blow, cark, dole, fret, burden, load, concern, grief, sorrow, distress, affliction, woe, bitterness, heartache, carking cares, heavy heart, aching heart, bleeding heart, broken heart, heavy affliction, gnawing grief, unhappiness, infelicity, misery, tribulation, wretchedness, desolation, despair, extremity, prostration, depth of misery, nightmare, ephialtes, incubus, pang, anguish, agony, torture, torment, purgatory, hell upon earth, iron age, reign of terror, slough of despond, peck of troubles, ills that flesh is heir to, miseries of human life, unkindest cut of all, sufferer, victim, prey, martyr, object of compassion, wretch, shorn lamb, in pain, in a state of pain, full of pain, suffering, pained, afflicted, worried, displeased, aching, griped, sore, on the rack, in limbo, between hawk and buzzard, uncomfortable, uneasy, ill at ease, in a taking, in a way, disturbed, discontented, out of humor, weary, heavy laden, stricken, crushed, a prey to, victimized, ill-used, unfortunate, to be pitied, doomed, devoted, accursed, undone, lost, stranded, fey, unhappy, infelicitous, poor, wretched, miserable, woe-begone, cheerless, careworn, concerned, sorry, sorrowing, sorrowful, cut up, chagrined, horrified, horror-stricken, in grief, plunged in grief, a prey to grief, in tears, steeped to the lips in misery, heart-stricken, heart-broken, heart-scalded, broken-hearted, in despair, the iron entered into our soul, haeret lateri lethalis arundo, one's heart bleeding, down, thou climbing sorrow, mirth cannot move a soul in agony, nessun maggior dolere che ricordarsi del tempo fel, sorrow's crown of sorrow is remembering happier th, the Niobe of Nations.

Food

N food, eating, deglutition, gulp, epulation, mastication, manducation, rumination, gluttony, hippophagy, ichthyophagy, (appetite), mouth, jaws, mandible, mazard, gob, chops, drinking, potation, draught, libation, carousal, drunkenness, food, pabulum, aliment, nourishment, nutriment, sustenance, sustentation, sustention, nurture, subsistence, provender, corn, feed, fodder, provision, ration, keep, commons, board, commissariat, prey, forage, pasture, pasturage, fare, cheer, diet, dietary, regimen, belly timber, staff of life, bread, bread and cheese, comestibles, eatables, victuals, edibles, ingesta, grub, grubstake, prog, meat, bread, bread stuffs, cerealia, cereals, viands, cates, delicacy, dainty, creature comforts, contents of the larder, fleshpots, festal board, ambrosia, good cheer, good living, beef, bisquit, bun, cornstarch, cookie, cooky, cracker, doughnut, fatling, hardtack, hoecake, hominy, mutton, pilot bread, pork, roti, rusk, ship biscuit, veal, joint, piece de resistance, roast and boiled, remove, entremet, releve, hash, rechauffe, stew, ragout, fricassee, mince, pottage, potage, broth, soup, consomme, puree, spoonmeat, pie, pasty, volauvent, pudding, omelet, pastry, sweets, kickshaws, condiment, appetizer, hors d'oeuvre, main course, entree, alligator pear, apple, apple slump, artichoke, ashcake, griddlecake, pancake, flapjack, atole, avocado, banana, beche de mer, barbecue, beefsteak, beet root, blackberry, blancmange, bloater, bouilli, bouillon, breadfruit, chop suey, chowder, chupatty, clam, compote, damper, fish, frumenty, grapes, hasty pudding, ice cream, lettuce, mango, mangosteen, mince pie, oatmeal, oyster, pineapple, porridge, porterhouse steak, salmis, sauerkraut, sea slug, sturgeon ("Albany beef"), succotash, supawn, trepang, vanilla, waffle, walnut, table, cuisine, bill of fare, menu, table d'hote, ordinary, entree, meal, repast, feed, spread, mess, dish, plate, course, regale, regalement, refreshment, entertainment, refection, collation, picnic, feast, banquet, junket, breakfast, lunch, luncheon, dejeuner, bever, tiffin, dinner, supper, snack, junk food, fast food, whet, bait, dessert, potluck, table d'hote, dejeuner a la fourchette, hearty meal, square meal, substantial meal, full meal, blowout, light refreshment, bara, chotahazri, bara khana, mouthful, bolus, gobbet, morsel, sop, sippet, drink, beverage, liquor, broth, soup, potion, dram, draught, drench, swill, nip, sip, sup, gulp, wine, spirits, liqueur, beer, ale, malt liquor, Sir John Barleycorn, stingo, heavy wet, grog, toddy, flip, purl, punch, negus, cup, bishop, wassail, gin, coffee, chocolate, cocoa, tea, the cup that cheers but not inebriates, bock beer, lager beer, Pilsener beer, schenck beer, Brazil tea, cider, claret, ice water, mate, mint julep, near beer, 2 beer, non- alcoholic beverage, eating house, diner, hippophage, glutton, eatable, edible, esculent, comestible, alimentary, cereal, cibarious, dietetic, culinary, nutritive, nutritious, gastric, succulent, potable, potulent, bibulous, omnivorous, carnivorous, herbivorous, granivorous, graminivorous, phytivorous, ichthyivorous, omophagic, omophagous, pantophagous, phytophagous, xylophagous, across the walnuts and the wine, blessed hour of our dinners!, now good digestion wait on appetite, and health on both!, who can cloy the hungry edge of appetite?.

Heat

VB be hot, glow, flush, sweat, swelter, bask, smoke, reek, stew, simmer, seethe, boil, burn, blister, broil, blaze, flame, smolder, parch, fume, pant, heat, recalesce, thaw, give.

Calefaction

VB heat, warm, chafe, stive, foment, make hot, sun oneself, sunbathe, go up in flames, burn to the ground (flame), fire, set fire to, set on fire, kindle, enkindle, light, ignite, strike a light, apply the match to, apply the torch to, rekindle, relume, fan the flame, add fuel to the flame, poke the fire, stir the fire, blow the fire, make a bonfire of, melt, thaw, fuse, liquefy, burn, inflame, roast, toast, fry, grill, singe, parch, bake, torrefy, scorch, brand, cauterize, sear, burn in, corrode, char, calcine, incinerate, smelt, scorify, reduce to ashes, burn to a cinder, commit to the flames, consign to the flames, boil, digest, stew, cook, seethe, scald, parboil, simmer, do to rags, take fire, catch fire, blaze.