from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
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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