# mew

/ˈmju/ (US) · /mjˈuː/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/mew
Updated: 2026-08-27

## Senses

### 1. cat sound

verb · CEFR A2

to make the soft crying sound of a cat, especially a kitten.

For teachers: to emit the characteristic high-pitched vocalisation of a feline.

- The hungry kitten began to mew as soon as it saw the milk bowl.
- The stray cat continued to mew plaintively outside the window until someone finally offered it a scrap of food.

### 2. a type of bird

noun · CEFR C2 · Literary · Dialect

a type of seagull.

For teachers: a common European gull, often used in literary or regional contexts to refer to seagulls generally.

- The lonely cry of a mew echoed across the empty beach.
- Poets often use the image of a mew circling the cliffs to evoke a sense of coastal isolation.

### 3. facial exercise

verb · CEFR C1 · Slang · Informal

to press your tongue against the roof of your mouth to try and change your jaw shape.

For teachers: to practice a specific tongue posture intended to improve facial aesthetics or jawline definition.

- He spent months learning how to mew correctly to improve his jawline.
- The trend of mewing gained significant traction on social media platforms among teenagers seeking non-surgical cosmetic improvements.

### 4. to shut away

verb · CEFR C2 · Archaic · Literary

to hide or lock someone or something away in a small space.

For teachers: to confine or shut up, as if in a cage; historically related to the housing of hawks.

- The old stories tell of a princess mewed up in a high tower.
- The king ordered his rival to be mewed within the fortress walls for the remainder of the winter.

## Examples

- The cat let out a soft mew to greet its owner.
- As the sun began to set, the cat sat on the windowsill and gave a low mew to signal its hunger.
- The silence of the old house was broken only by the occasional mew of a stray cat that had found its way into the garden.

---

From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.