Stew

Old French estuve (modern French Ã©tuve), from Medieval Latin stupha, perhaps ultimately from Ancient Greek Ï„á¿¦Ï†Î¿Ï‚ ("smoke, steam").

Full definition of stew

(usually uncountable; plural stews)

(obsolete) A cooking-dish used for boiling; a cauldron. 14th-17th c.
(now historical) A heated bath-room or steam-room; also, a hot bath. from 14th c.

1485, Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur, Book XI:Sir Launcelot wente into the chambir, that was as hote as ony styew.

1681, John Dryden, And rak'd, for converts, even the court and stews.
1835, Thomas Babington Macaulay, "Sir James Mackintosh"Because he was chaste, the precinct of his temple is filled with licensed stews.
1977, GÃ£mini SalgÃ£do, The Elizabethan Underworld, Folio Society 2006, p. 37:Although whores were permitted to sit at the door of the stew, they could not solicit in any way nor â€˜chide or throw stonesâ€™ at passers-by.

1870, Charles Dickens, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Wordsworth Classics 1998, p. 367:I noticed then that there was nothing to drink on the table but brandy, and nothing to eat but salted herrings, and a hot, sickly, highly peppered stew.

(Sussex) A pool in which fish are kept in preparation for eating.
(US, regional) An artificial bed of oysters.
(slang) A state of agitated excitement, worry, and/or confusion.to be in a stew

(transitive or intransitive or ergative) To cook (food) by slowly boiling or simmering.I'm going to stew some meat for the casserole.The meat is stewing nicely.
(transitive) To brew (tea) for too long, so that the flavour becomes too strong.
(intransitive, figuratively) To suffer under uncomfortably hot conditions.
(intransitive, figuratively) To be in a state of elevated anxiety or anger.

Abbreviation of steward or stewardess.

(plural stews)

1975 November 3, Mordecai Richler, "The Perils of Maureen", , volume 8, number 44, page 8 http://google.com/books?id=OekCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA8&dq=stew:And then, working as a stew for American Airlines, Mo met another older man....
1991, Tom Clancy, , 1992 edition, ISBN 0425184226, page 480 http://google.com/books?id=kP84eUjxv-MC&pg=PA480&dq=stew:"...We want to know what he's going to be saying on his airplane.""I don't have the legs to dress up as a stew, doc. Besides, I never learned to do the tea ceremony, either."
1992 January, Skip Hollandsworth, "Doing the Hustle", Texas Monthly, ISSN 0148-7736, volume 20, issue 1, page 52 http://google.com/books?id=dysEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA52&dq=stew:Dallas was also becoming known as a "stew zoo" because so many flight attendants were relocating there to work for Southwest, Braniff, and American Airlines.