slew
2 of 4past tense of slay
slew
4 of 4less common spelling of slough entry 1 sense 1b
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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
Examples of slew in a Sentence
Suzanne Nuyen, NPR, 22 May 2024
Over the past six seasons, his storyline has intertwined with his fellow LAPD coworkers, who have become close friends, facing a slew of emergencies alongside him.
—Jacqueline Weiss, Peoplemag, 22 May 2024
That will give you a slew of new ways to help get more out of your meeting notes, calendar, photos, recordings, downloads – all your digital stuff.
—Mike Feibus, USA TODAY, 21 May 2024
But over the last few years, while Yale has integrated much of August’s technology — including its automatic unlocking feature and its app — and released a slew of new products, there hasn’t been any innovation from August.
—Jennifer Pattison Tuohy, The Verge, 21 May 2024
The Islands already offer a slew of labs, such as script development workshop Islabentura, MiradasDoc’s Creadoc or training facilities related to Las Palais de Gran Canarias’ Mecas market and the CIIF market.
—John Hopewell, Variety, 20 May 2024
As its name suggests, the program features a slew of high-end homes that are available to rent, giving guests that opportunity to enjoy all of the property’s facilities while getting the homeowner experience.
—Abby Montanez, Robb Report, 20 May 2024
The Matadors, behind a slew of Kannan spikes, stormed back to take a 2-0 lead.
—Joseph Dycus, The Mercury News, 16 May 2024
The 48-year-old canceled a slew of dates last year due to doctor orders related to a vocal strain.
—Michael Saponara, Billboard, 15 May 2024
PCMAG, 16 May 2024
For my parents, coming off a winter slewing around in a 1979 Buick Regal, this must've been a four-wheel-drive revelation.
—Ezra Dyer, Car and Driver, 27 Aug. 2023
Much of bonds’ gains came in the 1980s, when the Fed under Paul Volcker eased off its punishingly high interest rates, which slew that era’s double-digit inflation.
—Larry Light, Fortune, 13 Oct. 2022
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'slew.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Slew.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/slew. Accessed 28 May. 2024.
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