▪ I. † sew, n.1 Obs.
Forms: 1 séaw, séa, (3 -sæw), 4–5 seew, seue, 4–6 sewe, 5 cewe, seau, 5–7 sew, 6 seu.
[OE. séaw neut. = NFris. sâie, sei, sii, OHG. sou, MHG. (genit. sowes) juice, poison, food:—OTeut. *sawwo-. Cf. ON. sǫgg-r wet, dank. The root may be identical with that of Gr. ὕει (:—*su-) it rains.]
1. Juice, moisture, humour. (OE. only; but cf. ME. elesæw oil, in Ormin.)
Cf. the combs. liþséaw synovia, pl{uacu}mséaw plum-juice.
| c 900 Bede Glosses in Sweet O.E. Texts 182 Sucum, sea. a 1000 Sax. Leechd. I. 268 Wiþ ðæra earena sare, ᵹenim þisse sylfan wyrte [sc. of foxglove] seaw, mid rosan seawe. Ibid. II. 176 Cumaþ þa adla..on [? read of] yflum seawum. |
2. Pottage, broth; a mess of pottage. (Cf. fig-sue, fig n. 10.)
In the 15th c. sometimes used as the equivalent of OF. civé onion broth, minced meat stewed with onions. (Cf. quot. c 1440.) There may have been a disyllabic seve (a. OF. civé) which may have been confused with the native word because of the ambiguity of the spelling.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 108 Þyse ilk renkez..Schul neuer..suppe on sope of my seve. Ibid. 825 Þenne ho sauerez with salt her seuez vchone. c 1386 Chaucer Sqr.'s T. 59, I wol nat letten of hir strange sewes. 1388 Wyclif Gen. xxvii. 4 Whanne thou hast take ony thing bi huntyng, make to me a seew therof. 1422 Yonge tr. Secreta Secret. lxix. 246 Flesh y-rostid, wych is more hottyr than in seau, or sode in watyr. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 67/2 Cewe, sepulatum. Ibid. 454/2 Sew, cepulatum. 14.. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 572/7 Cepiarium, sewe. c 1500 Lacy Wyl Bucke's Test. a iij, The potage stued tripes and Noumbles in sewe. 1547 Boorde Brev. Health §309 Beware of eatyng of frutes, potages, and sewes. 1586 Warner Alb. Eng. v. xxv, To have gud spiced Sewe and Roste, and plum-pies for a King. 1601 Holland Pliny xx. xvi. II. 63 If a thicke grewell or sew be made thereof. 1633 J. Fisher Fuimus Troes iii. ix, Hidder, eke and shidder, With spiced sew ycramd. |
| fig. 1645 Answ. Pref. 89 You..durst not upon the peril of quenching your kitchin-fire; put forth your single sew of translation, without the Coloquintida of your Annotations. |
| attrib. 1459 Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 89 Item ij sewpottez. |
▪ II. sew, n.2 Obs. exc. dial.
[a. OF. *sewe, saiwe, aphetic f. *esseve, escheve, f. essever sew v.4
But cf. the synonymous sough (north. dial. seugh), which may conceivably have undergone alteration through association with sew v.4 and sewer n.1]
A sewer, drain.
| 1475 Engl. Misc. (Surtees) 27 The hows of Robert Raynald next by stoppes the watyr sew, that the water may not hawe it reght corsse. Ibid., The new sewes in Gouththorp..is defectyve. 1585 Higins Nomenclator 391/2 Cloaca, the towne sinke: the common sew. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. i. 237 Common Sewes or Sinks. 1710 Fuller Pharm. Extemp. 244 Julep..scoms out feculent Rubbish..of the Body [and] sweeps it into the Common-Sew of the Circulating Blood. 1875 Parish Sussex Gloss., Sew, an underground drain. 1898 B. Kirkby Lakeland Words 127 Sew—Mig hole, sewer, muck midden. |
▪ III. sew, a. dial.
(sjuː)
Also sue, zoo, etc.
[? Shortened form of a-sew (s.w. dial.): see Eng. Dial. Dict.
This word may possibly represent OE. ásiwen, pa. pple. of áséon to strain, drain.]
Of a cow: Dry of milk. Chiefly in phr. to go sew, also to go to sew.
| 1674 Ray S. & E.C. Words 76 To go Sew: i.e. to go dry, Suss[ex] spoken of a cow. 1746 Exmoor Scolding (E.D.S.) 36 Thee hast a let the Kee go zoo vor Want o' strocking. 1875 Parish Sussex Gloss. s.v., A cow is said to be gone to sew when her milk is dried off. 1886 W. Somerset Word-bk. s.v. Zoo, We milks twenty cows, but you know they never baint all in milk to once, some be always zoo. |
¶ b. The alleged subst. use = ‘a cow which gives no milk’ is perh. based on an erroneous analysis of a-sew (see above).
| 1681 Worlidge Syst. Agric. 331 A Cow is a Sew when her Milk is gone. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Sew (Country-word), a Cow, when her Milk is gone. 1885 Sweetman Wincanton Gloss. (E.D.D.). |
▪ IV. sew, v.1
(səʊ)
Pa. tense sewed (səʊd). pa. pple. sewed, sewn (səʊn). Forms: 1 seowan, siwan, seowian, siowian, siwian, 2 sewen, 3 seouwen, 4 seu, souwe, sowen, 4–6 sewe, 4–8 sowe, (5 sawe), 6 Sc. schew, 6–7 sow, 7–9 Sc. shew, 5– sew. pa. pple. 1 seowed, 3 ise(o)uwed, 4 isued, y-sewed, 4–8 sowed, (5 saude, sawede), 6 soude, sowd, Sc. sowit, 7 sewit, 4– sewed; 4–6 sowen, 7 sewen, 9– sewn.
[Com. Teut. and Indogermanic: OE. siwan, siowan (usually, with change of conjugation, siwian, siowian, seowian) = OFris. sîa (mod.Fris. dial. siije), OHG. siuwen, ON. s{yacu}ja (Sw. sy, Da. sye), Goth. siujan:—OTeut. *siwjan, cogn. w. the synonymous L. su-ĕre, Gr. (κασ-)σύειν, Lett. schuju, OSl. šiti (Russ. shit{p}, shivat{p}), Skr. siv (3 sing. pres. sīvyati, pa. pple. syūtá; derivatives are syū fem., needle or thread, syūman suture).
The root (for which Hirt suggests a primary form *seyewa-) appears in the words above quoted as *syū-: *sīw. Another ablaut-grade, *syou-, is found in OTeut. *saumo- seam n. The pronunciation (səʊ) is abnormal (cf. strow, var. of strew, repr. OE. streowian); the written forms show that it goes back at least to the 14th c. In the 17th c. sew sometimes rhymes with clue, new; the mod.Sc. pronunciation is (ʃu).]
1. a. trans. To fasten, attach, or join (pieces of textile material, leather, etc.) by passing a thread in alternate directions through a series of punctures made either with a needle carrying the thread, or with an awl; to make the seams of (a garment, etc.).
| c 725 Corpus Gloss. 1773 Sarcio, siouu. c 1000 ælfric Gen. iii. 7 Hiᵹ..siwodon ficleaf and worhton him wædbrec. c 1000 ― Saints' Lives xv. 23 Sum sutere siwode [v.r. seowode] þæs halᵹan weres sceos. a 1225 Ancr. R. 420 Schepieð, and seouweð, and amendeð chirche cloðes. a 1300 Cursor M. 19766 To seu þe pouer þair clething. c 1386 Chaucer Pars. T. ¶256 They sowed of fige-leves a manere of breches. c 1420 Liber Cocorum (1862) 36 Fylle thy bagge..And sew hit fast. 1566 in Hay Fleming Mary Q. of Scots (1897) 506 Item of lyncum tuyne to schew the Quens curges tua unce. 1576 G. Baker Gesner's Jewell of Health 21 A Bagge..shaped and sowen after this manner. 1576 Gascoigne Steele Gl. Wks. 1910 II. 171 When shoomakers make shoes, That are wel sowed. 1666 Third Adv. to Painter 29 Bring home the old ones, I again will sew And dearn them up to be as good as new. 1756 M. Calderwood in Coltness Collect. (Maitland Club) 243 A boy who sowes point in the forenoon. 1843 Hood Song Shirt 31 Sewing at once, with a double thread, A Shroud as well as a Shirt. 1880 ‘Ouida’ Moths I. 40 She can get a girl to sew them for her. |
b. To fasten, attach, or fix (something) by this process on, upon, in, to, round (etc.) something else.
| a 1000 Ags. Gosp. Mark ii. 21 Nan man ne siwaþ niwne scyp to ealdum reafe. c 1290 Beket 1804 in S. Eng. Leg. 158 In þe schipes seile an heiȝ þis holi man let do Ane Croiz, þat Man fer isaiȝ Iseuwed faste þer-to. 1382 Wyclif Job xvi. 16, I souwide a sac vpon my skin. c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 685 A vernicle hadde he sowed on his cappe. 1464 Nottingham Rec. II. 376 As it appiers in a cedule to þis sewed. 1483 Act 1 Rich. III, c. 8 Preamble, The seid Diers..uppon the lystes of the same Clothes festen and sowe greate Risshes. 1588 Shakes. Tit. A. ii. iv. 39 Faire Philomela she but lost her tongue, And in a tedious Sampler sowed her minde. 1635 R. N. Camden's Hist. Eliz. iii. 261 His head was soone after sewed to his body by his friends, and committed to buriall. 1681 Dineley Jrnl. Visit Irel. in Trans. Kilkenny Arch. Soc. Ser. ii. II. 28 [They] adorn it with flowers, sewen to the shroud. 1815 Scott Guy M. vi, Two slips of parchment, which she sewed round it, to prevent its being chafed. 1908 [Miss E. Fowler] Betw. Trent & Ancholme 362 She had a black ribbon sewn round her lame finger. |
| fig. 1598 Queen Elizabeth Hor. de Arte Poet. 20 Oft to beginnings graue and shewes of great is sowed A purple pace. 1831 Scott Cast. Dang. i, My own good breeding is not so firmly sewed to me but that I can doff it, and resume it again without its losing a stitch. |
c. with adv., esp. on, together.
| c 1290 St. Edmund Conf. 54 in S. Eng. Leg. 433 And euere ȝwane heo sende heom cloþes..Þare-with heo wolde herene sende faste i-seuwede with-inne. 1382 Wyclif Gen. iii. 7 Thei soweden to gidre leeues of a fige tree. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 424 The other two and Paule also, had as it were sowed together certen fragmentes and patches. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 105 Prams, sowed together with hempe and cord. 1709 Felton Diss. Classics (1718) 32, I can compare such Productions to nothing but rich Pieces of Patchwork, sewed together with Pack-thread. 1836 W. Irving Astoria I. 269 Mere tents of dressed buffalo skins, sewed together and stretched on long poles. 1855 Lady E. Finch Sampler (ed. 2) 83 To Sew on a Button. 1901 L. F. Day & M. Buckle Art in Needlework (ed. 2) xii. 116 A thread may be laid across and sewn down—couched, as it is called. |
d. Surgery. = sew up: see 4 a.
| c 1502 Joseph Arim. 269 The wounde to sewe fast he began to spede. 1795 J. Bell Disc. Wounds 17 note, The older Surgeons..called it a Continued Suture when they sewed the wound all along like a seam. 1801 ― Princ. Surg. II. 52 Except in those cuts which are so slight as only to require a cloth to be wrapped about the part, every wound ought to be sewed. |
e. Bookbinding. To fasten together the sheets of (a book) by passing a thread or wire backwards and forwards through the back fold of each sheet, so as to attach it to the bands: distinguished from stitch.
| 1637 Star Chamber Decree in Milton's Areop. (Arb.) 9 Nor cause any such [books] to be bound, stitched, or sowed. 1809 C'tess Charleville in Lady Morgan's Mem. (1862) I. 366, I read Ida before it was all issued from the press, a volume being sent me as soon as sewed. 1880 J. W. Zaehnsdorf Art of Bookbinding v. 21 A third sheet having been sewn.., the needle brought out at the kettle-stitch, must be thrust between the two sheets first sewn. 1929 A. J. Vaughan Mod. Bookbinding i. 24 Before a book is sewn by hand the back is required to be marked..as a guide for the needle. 1968 I. Robinson Introd. Bookbinding 27 When the second section has been sewn the long and short ends of thread are drawn taut. |
f. With cogn. obj.: To make (a seam).
| 1399 Langl. Rich. Redeles iii. 166 Kerving þe cloþe all to pecis, Þat seuene goode sowers sixe wekes after Moun not sett þe seemes ne sewe hem aȝeyn. c 1400, 1630 [see seam n.1 1]. |
2. absol. and intr. To work with a needle and thread.
| c 1450 Mirk's Festial 136 Þis man..toke hys schone to hym, and began forto sawe on hit. And as he sewet full helt [etc.]. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 67 Whan a virgyn begynneth fyrst to lerne to sewe in the samplar. 1602 Shakes. Ham. ii. i. 77 As I was sowing in my Chamber. a 1700 Dryden Ovid's Art Love i. 780 What means Eacides to spin and sow? 1846 J. E. Taylor Fairy Ring 65 She sat steadily at her work, sewing away at the shirts. 1855 Browning In a Year iii, When I sewed or drew. 1891 Morris Poems by the Way (1896) 162 Hellelil sitteth in bower there, And seweth at the seam so fair. |
3. trans. To enclose in, put into a cover or receptacle secured by sewing; = sew up, 4 b.
| c 1350 Will. Palerne 3060 Þan þa komeli quen kast in hire hert, Sche wold wirche in þis wise wel to be sewed In an huge hindes hide as þe oþer were. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VII. 195 Peraventure ȝe schal kepe my body if it be sewed [1432–50 sawede] in a hertes skyn. 1555 Eden Decades (Arb.) 124 Her picture sowd in his apparell nere vnto his breste. 1596 Shakes. Tam. Shr. iv. iii. 137 Master, if euer I said loose-bodied gowne, sow me in the skirts of it. a 1648 Digby Closet Opened (1677) 27 Sow these spices in a little bag. 1663 Butler Hud. i. i. 797 They sow'd them in the Skins of Bears And then set Dogs about their Ears. 1840 Dickens Old C. Shop xxx, Nell had still the piece of gold sewn in her dress. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair xxxii, The diamonds were sewed into her habit. |
4. sew up. a. To close (an orifice, a wound, also anything that envelops) by stitching the edges together.
| 1490 Caxton Eneydos li. (1890) 143 Merencyus..made his wounde to be shwed [? read sewed; orig. faisoit couldre sa playe] vppe, that was yet full sore. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VI, 181 The lordes sat still..neither whisperyng nor spekyng, as though their mouthes had been sowed up. 1596 Shakes. Tam. Shr. iv. iii. 148, I commanded the sleeues should be cut out, and sow'd vp againe. 1712 Steele Spect. No. 436 ¶9 The Wound was exposed to the View of all who could delight in it, and sowed up on the Stage. 1776 Trial Nundocomar 31/1, I sewed up the bag with my own hand. 1812 Ann. Reg., Chron. 37 A surgeon sewed up the wound. 1885 Riverside Nat. Hist. (1888) III. 224 The fisher⁓men..generally sew up the mouth before placing it with others. |
¶ transf. To keep (one's mouth) resolutely closed. ? nonce-use.
| 1785 H. Walpole Let. to C'tess Upper Ossory 20 June, I sewed up my mouth, and though he addressed me two or three times, I answered nothing but yes or no. |
b. To enclose in a cover or receptacle and secure it by sewing.
| 1611 Bible Job xiv. 17 My transgression is sealed vp in a bagge, and thou sowest vp mine iniquitie. 1633 Ford Love's Sacrif. ii. ii, A Creature Sow'd vp in painted cloth, might so be styl'd. 1648 Herrick Hesper., Nuptial Song xv, But since It must be done, dispatch, and sowe Up in a sheet your Bride. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair li, He has sewn up ever so many odalisques in sacks and tilted them into the Nile. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xii. III. 234 A piece of paper sewed up in a cloth button. |
c. slang. (a) To tire out (a horse). (b) To tire out, exhaust (a person); to nonplus, bring to a standstill; to put hors de combat; to outwit, cheat, swindle; also, to bring about the conviction of (a person). (c) To make hopelessly drunk. (d) to sew up one's stocking: to put to silence, confute.
| (a) 1826 Sporting Mag. XIX. 17 He preserves his cattle in such rare condition, that with great difficulty are they to be ‘sewn up’. 1862 G. J. Whyte-Melville Inside Bar x, I like you young fellows to enjoy yourselves..and sew up your horses and come home. |
| (b) 1837 Dickens Pickw. xxxix, Here's Mr. Vinkle reg'larly sewed up vith desperation, miss. Ibid. lv, ‘Busy!’ replied Pell; ‘I'm completely sewn up’. 1838 Haliburton Clockm. Ser. ii. x. 154 You might have traded with him, and got it for half nothin’; or bought it and failed, as some of our importin' marchants sew up the soft-horned British. 1849 Alb. Smith Pottleton Legacy xiii. 113, I have introduced him to you as soon as I could, and you must sew him up as quickly as you can. 1855 Smedley H. Coverdale ii. 12, I did not think there was a man living who could have sewn me up in ten minutes like that; but you are..quick with your fists. 1857 A. Mayhew Paved with Gold ii. xvii, He told Fred Tattenham in confidence that if the men who were in his debt did not come up to the scratch on settling day he should be regularly ‘sewed up’. 1927 Dialect Notes V. 462 Sew up, v., to convict on overwhelming evidence. 1929 D. Hammett Red Harvest vii. 80, I expected something like that. That's why I sewed you up. And you are sewed up. 1945 E. S. Gardner Case of Gold-Digger's Purse xv. 159 The police have sewed him up on a written statement. |
| (c) 1829 Buckstone Billy Taylor, Kitty. (Aside, and taking out a vial.) This liquid, sent me by Monsieur Chabert, The fire-king, will sew him up. 1840 J. T. J. Hewlett P. Priggins xx, We must ply him with liquor, for I don't think a little will sew him up. 1842 S. Lover Handy Andy v, To use Jack Horan's own phrase, the apothecary was sewed up before he had any suspicion of the fact. |
| (d) 1859 Reade Love me Little xxvi, At this home thrust Mrs. Wilson was staggered... ‘Eh! Miss Lucy’, cried she, ‘but ye've got a tongue in your head. Ye've sewed up my stocking’. |
d. colloq. To bring (something) to a desired conclusion or condition; to complete satisfactorily; to organize or gain control of (a person or thing); spec. to ensure the favourable outcome of a game or match. Freq. in phr. all sewn (or sewed) up.
| 1904 Ade True Bills 136 The Man with the Megaphone Voice cut no Ice whatsoever, for they had him sewed up. 1915 Dialect Notes IV. 235 Sew up, v. phr., to make certain of (a place on a team, in a club, etc.). 1933 E. E. Cummings eimi 245 We glide to marriage ‘they've got that all sewed up’ blonde's mari affirms. 1936 ‘P. Quentin’ Puzzle for Fools xxi. 198 He said that..he had Broadway sewed up—him and a few other fellows. 1942 E. S. Gardner Case of Careless Kitten (1944) xii. 100 By the time you get there, Lieutenant Tragg will have things sewed up so tight you'll have to pay admission to get within a block of the place. 1945 ― Case of Gold-Digger's Purse xv. 165 The police have all the witnesses sewed up tight. 1953 A. Upfield Murder must Wait xxi. 191 A Chinese I..played draughts with..let me win a man..and I'd think I had him well sewn up..and then he'd clean the board. 1960 T. McLean Kings of Rugby xi. 163 It was Henderson who sewed up the match a moment later. 1977 News of World 17 Apr. 23/3 Charlton appeared to have the game sewn up. 1979 Quarto Oct. 3/1 During this period the novelists had it all sewn up. |
e. To enclose or seal off. colloq.
| 1962 New Statesman 21 Dec. 899/1 Knowing that it's only a matter of minutes before the Law would sew up the district with a cordon, we drop one of the team at the local railway station. |
5. Comb.: sew-and-fell attrib., made by sewing and felling; sew-on a., attached by sewing; sew-round, used attrib. to designate a method of sewing the upper of a shoe directly to the sole; also n., a shoe so made.
| 1880 Plain Hints 27 The edge of the patch should be turned down as for a sew-and-fell seam. 1885 J. B. Leno Boot & Shoemaking xi. 94 In the best sewrounds, the sole is reduced to the thickness of the upper. 1889 Pall Mall Gaz. 20 Nov. 4/3 Men engaged in the sewround branch of the boot trade. 1900 C. Russell & H. S. Lewis Jew in London 78 In the ‘sew-round’ or slipper-making trade. 1905–6 T. Eaton & Co. Catal. Fall & Winter 158/4 Sew-on Hose Supporters, which are stitched on to corset. 1977 Evening Post (Nottingham) 24 Jan. 8/1 (Advt.), Sew on Patches By Leomotif. Fantastic range of over 300 designs. |
▪ V. † sew, v.2 Obs.
Also 5 cew, 5–6 shew, 6 sewe.
[Back-formation from sewer n.2]
trans. To place (food) on the table as a sewer does; intr. to act as a sewer.
The gloss cepulo in Promp. Parv. is due to association with sew n.1
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 67/2 Cewyn, cepulo. Ibid. 454/2 Sewyn, at mete.., ferculo, sepulo. c 1440 Lydg. Hors, Shepe, & G. 208 A fatt goos..is sewid [v.r. served] vp atte kingis table. a 1483 Liber Niger in Househ. Ord. (1790) 36 He [the sewer] seweth at one mele, and dyneth and soupeth at another mele. c 1500 For to serve a Lord in Babees Bk. (1868) 366 First, mustard and brawne, swete wyne shewed therto. 1530 Palsgr. 716/2, I sewe at meate, je taste. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. IV, 14 b, The esquier whiche was acustomed to sewe and take the assaye before kyng Rychard. 1560 Rhodes Bk. Nurture in Babees Bk. (1868) 67 In some places the Caruer doth vse to shew and set down. 1609 B. Jonson Silent Wom. iii. vii. marg., La-Foole passes ouer sewing the meate. |
▪ VI. † sew, v.3 Falconry. Obs.
[aphetic a. OF. essuer, essuier (mod.F. essuyer) to wipe, cleanse:—L. exsūcāre to deprive of juice, f. ex- out + sūcus juice.]
trans. Of a hawk: To wipe (the beak) after feeding.
| c 1450 Bk. Hawking in Rel. Ant. I. 296 An hawke suyth is beke and not wypith. 1486 Bk. St. Albans a vj, An hawke snytith or sewith hir beke and not wipith hir beke. 1575 Turberv. Faulconrie 289 Let hir tire against the Sunne, snyting and sewing hir beake a little at your discretion. |
▪ VII. sew, v.4
(sjuː)
Also 6 seaw, sewe, 7 siew, 7–9 sue.
[a. OF. (north-eastern) *sewer (latinized sewāre), aphetic a. OF. essewer, essever:—popular L. *exaquāre, f. L. ex- out + aqua water.
The OE. séon (pa. pple. ᵹesiwen) had precisely the sense 2 below. It is possible that in this sense the vb. may be a distinct word, from the OE. pple. The F. suer to sweat may also be a partial source.]
1. trans. To drain, draw off the water from. Now dial. Also, † to draw off (water).
| a 1513 Fabyan Chron. vii. (1811) 487 [They] slewe and hurte many of the abbottes tenauntes, and spoyled and brake his closures and warynes, and sewyd their pondes and waters. 1573 Tusser Husb. (1878) 32 Sewe ponds, amend dams. 1579–80 North Plutarch, J. Cæsar (1595) 785 He determined to draine and seaw all the water of the marishes. 1610 W. Folkingham Art of Survey i. xiii. 45 Mills, for Siewing of surrounded grounds. 1669 Worlidge Syst. Agric. (1681) 268 A good time to sew Fish-ponds, and take Fish. 1853 W. D. Cooper Sussex Gloss. (ed. 2), Sue, to make furrows to draw off water from land. 1887 Kent Gloss., Sew, to dry; to drain; as, ‘To sew a pond.’ |
2. intr. Of a liquid: To ooze out, exude. (Said also of the containing vessel.) Now dial.
| 1565 Golding Ovid's Met. iv. (1567) 53 The droppes of bloud that from the head did sew Of Gorgon being new cut off. 1575 Turberv. Faulconrie 292 Whensoever the humor makes a shew to sew out at the hawkes eares. 1626 Bacon Sylva §79 The Percolation or Suing of the Veriuyce through the wood. Ibid. §410 Some Wheat lay vnder the Pan, which was somewhat moistned by the Suing of the Pan. 1648 J. Beaumont Psyche ii. clxvii, The deadly juice that from his brain doth sue. 1807 W. Taylor in Monthly Mag. XXIV. 549 The water sues through the brick work. 1823 E. Moor Suffolk Words 337 Sew, to ooze out. Water, from wet land—blood, from a bound-up wound. a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Sue, to issue in small quantities; to exude as a fluid from a vessel not sufficiently tight to confine it. |
3. Naut. a. Of a ship: To be grounded, to be high and dry; also (with specifying addition), to have its water-line (so much) above the water.
| c 1588 in Defeat Sp. Armada (Navy Rec. Soc.) I. 16 For that she was aground and sewed two foot, and could not be gotten off. 1627 Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. ix. 45 When the water is gone and the ships lie dry, we say she is Sewed; if her head but lie dry, she is Sewed a head; but if she cannot all lie dry, she cannot Sew there. 1676 Wood Jrnl. in Acc. Sev. Late Voy. (1694) i. 166 The Water did Ebb, and the ship Sued above 3 Foot. 1745 P. Thomas Voy. S. Seas 178 At Low-Water she Sued about one Foot and a half. 1750 T. R. Blanckley Nav. Expositor s.v., When a Ship at low Water comes to be on the Ground to lie dry, they say, she is Sewed; and if she be not quite left dry, they say, she Sews to such a Part. 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1780) s.v. Sewed, If a ship runs aground on the tide of ebb, and it be required to know if she has sewed, the water line..is examined, and this mark being found above the water, she is said to be sewed by as much as is the difference. 1882 Nares Seamanship (ed. 6) 109 If the water has left her two feet, she has sued two feet. |
† b. Of the water: To subside or diminish in depth. Obs.
| 1748 Anson's Voy. iii. vii. 355 The tide of ebb making, the water sewed to sixteen feet. |
▪ VIII. † sew, v.5 Obs.—0
intr. Of a cow: To go dry. (Perh. only a compiler's error; cf. sew a.)
| 1766 Complete Farmer s.v., To Sew, or go Sew, to go dry; spoken of a cow. |
▪ IX. sew
obs. f. saw v., show v., sow n., v., sue v.