Definition

1. Noun:
   • The process of cooking food slowly in a closed pot with a small amount of liquid: "stewing" refers to a method of cooking where food, often meat and vegetables, is simmered gently in a covered container.
   • A state of prolonged worry, agitation, or brooding: "stewing" can describe the act of being mentally absorbed in anxious, angry, or resentful thoughts.

Usage Examples

• Noun (Cooking):
  • The stewing of the beef for several hours made it incredibly tender.
  • She prefers stewing to frying for preparing chicken.
• Noun (Mental State):
  • His constant stewing about the mistake was unproductive.
  • After the argument, she was in a state of stewing for days.

Advanced Usage

• "to be in a stew": to be in a state of worry or agitation.
  • She was in a stew over her upcoming exam results.
• "stewing in one's own juices": suffering the consequences of one's own actions, often while being left alone to think about them.
  • After he insulted the team, they left him stewing in his own juices.

Variants and Related Words

• Stew (n/v): The dish created by stewing or the act of cooking/thinking in this way.
  • We had a delicious beef stew for dinner. (noun)
  • Don't stew over things you can't change. (verb)
• Stewer (n): A pot used for stewing.

Synonyms

• Simmering: Cooking just below boiling point; also used metaphorically for suppressed anger.
• Braising: A similar cooking method that often involves browning first.
• Brooding: Thinking deeply about something that makes one unhappy; worrying.
• Fretting: Being constantly or visibly worried or anxious.

Related Phrases

• Let someone stew: To deliberately leave someone to worry or be anxious about a situation.
  • He knew she was waiting for an answer, but he decided to let her stew for a while.

Noun

1. cooking in a liquid that has been brought to a boil
2. an extreme state of worry and agitation
   • his stewing over the fight kept him awake most of the night