stew

stew

1. To undergo cooking by boiling slowly or simmering. See Synonyms at boil¹.
2. Informal To suffer with oppressive heat or stuffy confinement; swelter.
3. Informal To be in a state of anxiety or agitation. See Synonyms at brood.

1. a. A dish cooked by stewing, especially a mixture of meat or fish and vegetables with stock.
   b. A mixture likened to this dish.
2. Informal Mental agitation: in a stew over the lost keys.
3. Archaic A brothel. Often used in the plural.

Origin: Middle English stewen, to bathe in a steam bath, stew, from Old French estuver, possibly from Vulgar Latin *extūpāre, *extūfāre, to bathe, evaporate : Latin ex-, ex- + Vulgar Latin *tūfus, hot vapor (from Greek tūphos, fever; see typhus ).

Related Forms:

• stewˈy adjective