stew (ew as u), stuwen, stuwyn, stuyn

t. & i. [O. Fr. estuver (Fr. étuver )=to bathe, to stew, from estuve (Fr. étuve )=a stove, a hothouse, in pl. stews; O. H. Ger. stupa =a hot room for a bath; Sp. & Port. estufa =a stove, a hothouse; Ital. stufa.] A. Trans.: To boil slowly or with a simmering heat; to cook or prepare, as meat or fruit, by put it into cold water, and gradually bringing to a low boiling point. " Stew'd shrimps and Afric cockles shall excite A jaded drinker's languid appetite." Francis: Horace; Satires iv. 2. B. In trans.: To be boiled or cooked in a slow, gentle manner, or in heat and moisture. stew (ew as ū), (1), *ste we, *stue, *stuwe, *stuyve, *sty we, s . [STEW, v .] *1. A hot or warmed room, a house or place furnished with warm water or vapor baths; a bagnio, ( Gower : C. A., viii.) *2. A brothel; a house of prostitution. (Generally in the plural form, but frequently treated as a singular.) "And here as in a tavern or a stews , He and his wild a ociates spend their hours." Ben Jonson: Every Man in his Humor , ii. 1. *3. An early form of lock-hospital (q. v.). "Thus, in the borough of South wark, prior to the time sometimes fixed upon for the origin of syphilis, there were places called stews , where prostitutes were confined, and received the benefits of surgical a istance. They were taken up and put into these establishments, whether agreeable to them or not, by virtue of certain decrees, made expre ly to protect the rest of the community from the risk of catching their complaints."-S. Cooper: Prac tice of Surgery (ed. 6th), p. 332. *4. A prostitute. (In this sense also the plural form is frequently used as a singular.) "Instead of that beauty he had a notorious stew , sent to him."- Sir A. Weldon: Court of King James, p. 146. 5. A dish that has been cooked by stewing; meat stewed. 6. A stew-pan (q. v.). 7. A breeding-place for tame pheasants. In a stew: In a state of agitation, confusion, trouble, or excitement. "He, though naturally bold and stout, In short was in a tremendous stew." Barham: Ing. Legends; The Ghost. stew-pan, subst . A cooking utensil for exposing meats to a prolonged gentle heat; usually in well appointed kitchens a charcoal furnace or steam bath. stew-pot, s. A pot or ve el for stewing.