slew

1 of 4

noun

ˈslü 

: a large number

a slew of books

slew

2 of 4

past tense of slay

slew

3 of 4

verb

ˈslü 

variants or less commonly slue

slewed also slued; slewing also sluing; slews also slues

transitive verb

1

: to turn (something, such as a telescope or a ship's spar) about a fixed point that is usually the axis

2

: to cause to skid : veer

slew a car around a turn

intransitive verb

1

: to turn, twist, or swing about : pivot

2

: skid

slew

4 of 4

less 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

Examples of slew in a Sentence

Noun

He has written a slew of books.

we still have a slew of work to do on this project

Verb

He slewed the telescope three degrees south.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Tuesday saw a slew of other earning, including from Adidas, Lufthansa, Santander and BP, among others. —Karen Gilchrist,holly Ellyatt, CNBC, 29 Oct. 2024

Digital operations bring a slew of task and process efficiencies, letting professionals quickly collect, store and analyze accurate job-site data, process invoices and payments, build better customer relationships and reallocate people and other resources to more business-critical tasks. —Gary Specter, Forbes, 29 Oct. 2024

This particular ingredient contains a slew of amino acids, antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals essential for plump, supple skin. —Jennifer Hussein, Allure, 29 Oct. 2024

Smith has had a slew of experiences leading up to this fitting role. —Essence, 28 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun

perhaps from Irish slua army, host, throng, from Old Irish slúag; akin to Lithuanian slaugyti to tend

Verb

origin unknown

First Known Use

Noun

1839, in the meaning defined above

Verb

circa 1769, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Podcast

Get Word of the Day delivered to your inbox!

Kids Definition

slew

1 of 4

ˈslü

past of slay

slew

2 of 4

variant of slough entry 1 sense 1

slew

3 of 4 verb

variants also slue

: to turn, twist, or swing about especially out of a course : veer

slew

4 of 4 noun

: a large number