pew

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pew¹

  • /pjuː/ UK
  • /pjʉw/ British, Southern, Standard
  • /pjʉ/ Northern Ireland, Scotland, UK
  • /pɪʊ/ UK, Wales
  • /pju/ Canada, US
  • /pjʉː/ Australia, New Zealand

Sounds like Pugh, Pew · Rhymes with -uː

Where it comes from

From Middle English pewe, from Old French puiee, puïe (“balustrade, balcony”), from Latin podia, plural of podium (“parapet, podium”), from Ancient Greek πόδιον (pódion, “little foot”), from πούς (poús, “foot”). Doublet of podia.

noun pews

  1. One of the long benches in a church, seating several persons, usually fixed to the floor and facing the chancel. In many churches some pews are reserved for either clerical or liturgical officials such as canons, or for prominent families.
  2. broadly, in plural The congregation of a church. I think a lot of Americans are actually searching for a church that’s relatively apolitical in the pulpit and the pews.
  3. An enclosed compartment in a church which provides seating for a group of people, often a prominent family. At St. Patrick’s Cathedral, firefighters in dress blues and white gloves escorted families to the pews for a memorial service, led by Mr. Bloomberg, to honor the 343 Fire Department employees killed on 9/11.
  4. Any structure shaped like a church pew, such as a stall, formerly used by money lenders, etc.; a box in a theatre; or a pen or sheepfold. [H]e, a lollard indeed over his elbovv-cuſhion, in almoſt the ſeaventh part of 40. or 50. years teaches them ſcarce half the principles of religion; and his ſheep oft-times ſit the vvhile to as little purpoſe of benifiting as the ſheep in thir pues at Smithfield; […]
  5. colloquial, humorous A chair; a seat. Pull up a pew.

verb pews · pewing · pewed

  1. To furnish with pews. building a gallery and altering the pewing in the church at Catherington

pew²

  • /pjuː/ UK
  • /pjʉw/ British, Southern, Standard
  • /pjʉ/ Northern Ireland, Scotland, UK
  • /pɪʊ/ UK, Wales
  • /pju/ Canada, US
  • /pjʉː/ Australia, New Zealand

Sounds like Pugh, Pew · Rhymes with -uː

Where it comes from

See phew.

interjection P U · P.U. · peeyoo · phew

  1. An expression of disgust in response to an unpleasant odor.

pew³

  • /pjuː/ UK
  • /pjʉw/ British, Southern, Standard
  • /pjʉ/ Northern Ireland, Scotland, UK
  • /pɪʊ/ UK, Wales
  • /pju/ Canada, US
  • /pjʉː/ Australia, New Zealand

Sounds like Pugh, Pew · Rhymes with -uː

Where it comes from

Onomatopoeic.

interjection pyew

  1. childish Representative of the sound made by the firing of a gun, particularly a blaster in science fiction.

Pew⁴

Where it comes from

Less common spelling of Pugh, from Welsh ap + Huw.

proper noun

  1. A surname from Welsh.

PEW⁵

noun PEWs

  1. abbreviation, initialism Initialism of pink-eyed white (mouse or rat).

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: church bench, bello, bank, bio, headquarters, opener, seat, fixture, bench, dynamometer, chassis, pio, rig, oar, gorton, openers

Translations

Every language

noun long bench in a church

Españolbanco de iglesia
Portuguêsbanco de igreja
Françaisbanc de fidèle, banc d’église
DeutschKirchenbank, Bank
Italianopanca, banco, scanno, stallo, inginocchiatoio, scranno
Русскийцерко́вная скамья́ cerkóvnaja skamʹjá

noun enclosed compartment in a church

Françaisbanc d’œuvre, banc de l’œuvre
Italianostallo

intj expression of disgust in response to an unpleasant odor

Españoluf
日本語げ ge
Françaispouah
Ελληνικάπιφ! pif!, πουφ! pouf!
Русскийфу! fu!, тьфу! tʹfu!

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Cite this
MLA

"pew." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/pew. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

pew. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/pew

Chicago

"pew." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/pew.

BibTeX
@misc{pew_2026,
  title = {pew},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/pew},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}