I. ˈstrü verb
( strewed ; strewed -üd ; or strewn -ün sometimes -üən ; strewing ; strews )
Etymology: Middle English strewen, strowen, from Old English strewian, strēowian; akin to Old High German strewen to strew, Old Norse strā, Gothic straujan to strew, Latin sternere to spread out, throw down, Greek stornynai to spread, strew, Sanskrit stṛṇāti he scatters, strews
transitive verb
1. : to spread by scattering : scatter — used especially of solids separated or separable into parts or particles
the ground … upon which the poultry grower strews his seed — S.R.Guard & Lloyd Graham
the growth hormone … can be strewn freely on lawns — Harvard Foundation Newsletter
obstacles being strewn along the water's edge — P.W.Thompson
little balls of paper were strewed over the bed — Arnold Bennett
2. : to cover more or less thickly by or as if by scattering something over or on
with flowers thy bridal bed I strew — Shakespeare
strewed the stones … with the straw — Padraic Colum
the forest floor is strewn with large granite boulders — G.R.Stewart
3. archaic : to raze to the ground : cast down : lay low
4. : calm 1
5. : to become dispersed over as if scattered
boulders that strewed the mountainside — D.J.Rankin
6. : to spread abroad : disseminate
may strew dangerous conjectures in ill-breeding minds — Shakespeare
intransitive verb
: to strew seed
Synonyms:
strew , strow , straw , scatter , sow , and broadcast agree in meaning to throw, scatter, sprinkle, or spread around loosely or at intervals as by casting from the hand. strew and the rarer strow and straw imply spreading around more or less at random but suggesting a wide coverage
strew a floor with rushes
a sidewalk strewn with leaves
clothes strewn around a room
may strow the dust with holy water for her peace — John Bennett
an ancient usage to straw the path that leads from her father's house to the family washing well with handfuls of these flowers — Llewelyn Powys
scatter implies a separation of parts or pieces, distinctly suggesting a haphazard throwing about or dispersal of small units
scatter toys all over the floor
no railroad scatters its soot over the neat white frame houses — Corey Ford
many bullets or shot which scattered out of the mouth of the gun — Tom Wintringham
the majority of the dwellings being scattered over the town's edge — American Guide Series: Oregon
sow , always implying the strewing of seed, applies to something like seed that can be disseminated throughout a group
sowed the area with bombs — Nevil Shute
sow seeds of reason and understanding throughout the world — A.E.Stevenson †1965
sowing dissension in our ranks — Kenneth Roberts
those problems with which literature is sown so thick — Virginia Woolf
broadcast in this connection implies a scattering widely or in all directions
broadcast very fine seed
antitoxin should be used only in certain cases of exposed, susceptible individuals, not broadcast unnecessarily — Justina Hill
university presses … all have one highly commendable objective — to help broadcast scholarship — B.L.Stratton
used the Senate floor to broadcast the obscene objections that had been made against the confirmation — Sidney Hyman
II. noun
( -s )
: a number of things scattered about : a disorderly mess
a strew of oak trunks lay everywhere — A.P.Terhune