Thew (thū), n. [Chiefly used in the plural Thews (thūz).] [OE. thew, þeau, manner, habit, strength, AS. þeáw manner, habit (cf. þȳwan to drive); akin to OS. thau custom, habit, OHG. dou. √56.] 1. Manner; custom; habit; form of behavior; qualities of mind; disposition; specifically, good qualities; virtues.
For her great light
Of sapience, and for her thews clear. Chaucer.
Evil speeches destroy good thews. Wyclif (1 Cor. xv. 33).
To be upbrought in gentle thews and martial might. Spenser.
2. Muscle or strength; nerve; brawn; sinew. Shak.
And I myself, who sat apart
And watched them, waxed in every limb;
I felt the thews of Anakim,
The pules of a Titan's heart. Tennyson.