To cover a surface by scattering things over it, or lie scattered across it.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- bestrew with petals
- leaves bestrew the path
- bestrewn with debris
On the page
Broken glass bestrewed the pavement beneath the window.
Nearby words
Word forms
- Base
- bestrew
- Past tense
- bestrewed
- Past participle
- bestrewed or bestrewn
- Present participle
- bestrewing
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- bestrew
- Present continuous
- am/is/are bestrewing
- Present perfect
- have/has bestrewed or bestrewn
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been bestrewing
- Past
- bestrewed
- Past continuous
- was/were bestrewing
- Past perfect
- had bestrewed or bestrewn
- Past perfect continuous
- had been bestrewing
- Future
- will bestrew
- Future continuous
- will be bestrewing
- Future perfect
- will have bestrewed or bestrewn
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been bestrewing
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
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Usage notes
Primary category: literary / elevated prose. Lexical Type: Word. Forms: bestrew; bestrews; bestrewed; bestrewed or bestrewn; bestrewing Commonness: uncommon (editorial estimate; not a corpus frequency statistic). Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1; numbered fields keep each relevant meaning separate. Research distinction: Collins gives cover/scatter/lie scattered across a surface; retain one closely related sense and literary usefulness. MW confirms bestrewed and bestrewn participles. Writing functions: precise action, characterization. Third-person singular: bestrews.
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