Mew, n. [OE. mue, F. mue change of feathers, scales, skin, the time or place when the change occurs, fr. muer to molt, mew, L. mutare to change. See 2d Mew.]
1. A cage for hawks while mewing; a coop for fattening fowls; hence, any inclosure; a place of confinement or shelter; — in the latter sense usually in the plural.
Full many a fat partrich had he in mewe. Chaucer.
Forthcoming from her darksome mew. Spenser.
Violets in their secret mews. Wordsworth.
2. A stable or range of stables for horses; — compound used in the plural, and so called from the royal stables in London, built on the site of the king's mews for hawks.