Definition

1. Noun:

   • A gull, especially the common gull: Refers to a type of seabird, specifically the common gull (Larus canus) found across Eurasia and northeastern North America.
   • The characteristic cry of a cat: The high-pitched sound made by a cat; a meow.
   • A cage or enclosure for hawks: A confined space, often a cage, where hawks are kept, especially while molting.

2. Verb:

   • To make the sound of a gull or a cat: To utter a high-pitched, plaintive cry, similar to that of a seagull or a cat.
   • To confine or shut away: To enclose or imprison, especially in a small or secret place.

Usage Examples

• Noun (bird):

  • A lone mew circled above the cliffs, searching for fish.
  • We spotted several mews on the beach.

• Noun (sound):

  • The kitten let out a tiny, pitiful mew.

• Verb (to make sound):

  • The lost cat mewed at the back door.
  • Seagulls mewed overhead as the boat left the harbor.

• Verb (to confine):

  • The old tales speak of princesses mewed up in towers. (This usage is now rare or literary.)

Advanced Usage

• "to mew up" (phrasal verb): To confine or shut someone away.
  • The writer mewed himself up in his cabin to finish his novel.

Variants and Related Words

• Mewing (n/adj): The act or sound of crying like a cat or gull. ()
• Sea mew (n): An older or poetic term for a seagull.

Synonyms

• For the sound (noun/verb): Meow, miaow, cry.
• For the bird (noun): Gull, seagull.
• For confining (verb): Confine, coop up, imprison, shut away.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Mew up: To enclose or imprison.
  • They were mewed up in the castle during the siege.

Related Idioms

Noun

1. the common gull of Eurasia and northeastern North America
2. the sound made by a cat (or any sound resembling this)

Verb

1. utter a high-pitched cry, as of seagulls
2. cry like a cat
   • the cat meowed