mews
mews Lexical Profile
mews Game Scores & Validity
• noun
British A row or courtyard of stables and carriage houses with living quarters above them, built behind large townhouses and in modern times frequently converted into residential apartments or small houses.
"They purchased a charming cottage tucked away in a cobbled mews in Kensington."
An enclosure, cage, or building designed for housing hawks and falcons, especially while they are molting.
"The falconer carefully cleaned the mews before returning the peregrine to its perch."
Word Nuance & Usage
Although ending in '-s' and originally a plural form, 'mews' is typically treated as a singular countable noun in modern English (e.g., 'a quiet London mews').
• Rhymes for mews
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
From the plural of 'mew' (a cage for hawks, from Old French 'mue', derived from Latin 'mutare' meaning 'to change' or 'to molt'). The word acquired its architectural sense from the Royal Mews at Charing Cross in London, where royal stables were built in 1534 on the site formerly used to house the king's falcons during their molting season.