MEANING
1. To turn or move sideways abruptly, often in an awkward or uncontrolled way.
2. A large number or amount of things, usually expressed with of.
Use it for
describing a vehicle turning sharply; showing a body or object sliding sideways; portraying an abrupt change in orientation; making loss of directional control visibleProvides abrupt turning or sideways displacement, while separating the informal quantity noun from the unrelated past of slay. Writing functions: Abrupt movement.
Words that belong together
- slew sideways
- slew across the road
- slew around
On the page
The van slewed across the wet road and stopped against the barrier.
He slewed the camera around as the light moved behind him.
The announcement prompted a slew of questions that nobody at the desk could answer.
She returned with a whole slew of objections scribbled in the margins.
Word forms
- Base
- slew
- Past tense
- slewed
- Past participle
- slewed
- Present participle
- slewing
Usage notes
Independent verb: slew, slews, slewed, slewed, slewing; future will slew. Slue is a spelling variant. Noun often a slew of something. Slew is also the past of slay, but that ordinary inflection is not counted as a new sense or entry here. Register: neutral. Commonness: moderately common (qualitative editorial estimate, informed by dictionaries/corpus).
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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