strew

strew
    v 1: spread by scattering ("straw" is archaic); "strew toys all
         over the carpet" [syn: {strew}, {straw}]
    2: cover; be dispersed over; "Dead bodies strewed the ground"
    

Strew \Strew\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Strewed}; p. p. {strewn}; p.
   pr. & vb. n. {Strewing}.] [OE. strewen, strawen, AS.
   strewian, stre['o]wian; akin to Ofries. strewa, OS. strewian,
   D. strooijen, G. streuen, OHG. strewen, Icel. str[=a], Sw.
   str["o], Dan. str["o]e, Goth. straujan, L. sternere, stratum,
   Gr. ?, ?, Skr. st?. [root]166. Cf. {Stratum}, {Straw},
   {Street}.]
   1. To scatter; to spread by scattering; to cast or to throw
      loosely apart; -- used of solids, separated or separable
      into parts or particles; as, to strew seed in beds; to
      strew sand on or over a floor; to strew flowers over a
      grave.
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            And strewed his mangled limbs about the field.
                                                  --Dryden.
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            On a principal table a desk was open and many papers
            [were] strewn about.                  --Beaconsfield.
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   2. To cover more or less thickly by scattering something over
      or upon; to cover, or lie upon, by having been scattered;
      as, they strewed the ground with leaves; leaves strewed
      the ground.
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            The snow which does the top of Pindus strew.
                                                  --Spenser.
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            Is thine alone the seed that strews the plain?
                                                  --Pope.
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   3. To spread abroad; to disseminate.
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            She may strew dangerous conjectures.  --Shak.
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36 Moby Thesaurus words for "strew":
      bestrew, broadcast, circulate, circumfuse, cover, deal out,
      diffract, diffuse, dispense, disperse, dispread, disseminate,
      dissipate, distribute, diverge, dust, fan out, issue, litter,
      overscatter, oversow, overspread, propagate, publish, radiate,
      retail, scatter, sow, sow broadcast, splay, spread, spread out,
      sprinkle, straw, toss, utter