I. ˈpyü noun
( -s )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English pue, pewe, puwe, from Middle French puie balcony, from Latin podia, plural of podium balcony, from Greek podion small foot, base, diminutive of pod-, pous foot — more at foot
1.
a. : a compartment in the auditorium of a church providing seats for several persons:
(1) : a compartment especially in an Old English church raised on a footpace, separated by partitions, furnished with a long seat or when square with seats facing each other, and designed for the use of a family
(2) : one of the benches with backs and sometimes doors fixed in rows in a church
b. : the persons occupying such pews : congregation
2. obsolete : station in life : allotted place or position
3.
a. obsolete : a raised place for a speaker in a church ; especially : a preacher's stall or desk
b. archaic : a raised seat or bench for a person (as a judge) sitting in an official capacity
II. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English puyen, from pue, pewe, puwe, n.
1. : to furnish with pews
they pew their churches and sometimes lock them — E.A.Freeman
2. : to enclose in or as if in a pew
men who were as willingly pewed in the parish church as their sheep were in night folds — Examiner
III. a sound made by blowing or whistling through rounded lips, often with the tongue moving from the front to the back of the mouth in the process; often read as ˈpyü interjection
Etymology: origin unknown
— used to express contempt or disgust (as at an odor)
IV. ˈpyü noun
( -s )
Scotland : a thin stream of air or smoke
V. noun
( -s )
Etymology: French pieu stake, from Latin palus — more at pole
: a long-handled hooked prong for pitching fish (as on a cannery wharf)