strew
part of speech
verb (strew, strews, strewed, strewn or strewed, strewing)
meaning for a pupil
1) To scatter things untidily over a surface. tree →
2) To be lying scattered over a place: leaves strewed the path. tree →
sense in the lessons
In the Tanakh and Jewish tradition: To strew is to scatter things over a surface. In the story of David's spies, a woman strewed grain over a well's mouth to hide the men inside. Interpretation: Moses ground up the golden calf and made the people drink it. Tradition sees this as showing that the idol had no power and as a test of those who had sinned. The woman's trick in Samuel is read as a brave act that saved David's messengers. In the primary lessons: A describing verb for messy or scattered scenes: toys strewn across the floor, petals strewn at a wedding, rubbish strewn on the beach. In The Wind in the Willows the weasels leave Toad Hall strewn with mess after their feasting. Common phrase: «strewn with».
examples
- And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it with fire, and ground it to powder, and strewed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it. (Torah EXO.32.20, JPS 1917) tree →
- And the woman took and spread the covering over the well's mouth, and strewed groats thereon; and nothing was known. (Prophets 2SA.17.19, JPS 1917) tree →
- Toys were strewn all over the bedroom floor. tree →
- The flower girl strewed petals along the aisle. tree →
- Leaves strewed the path after the storm. tree →
- The beach was strewn with seaweed and shells. tree →
- Don't strew your clothes on the stairs. tree →
- The kitchen was strewn with crumbs and plates. tree →
- The little maiden strewed flowers in her path. tree →
note
Past participle usually «strewn» («was strewn with»). Similar: scatter. Old form: «strow».
In the corpora
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «strew» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.