STREW
strew
(verb) cover; be dispersed over; “Dead bodies strewed the ground”
strew, straw
(verb) spread by scattering (“straw” is archaic); “strew toys all over the carpet”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Verb
strew (third-person singular simple present strews, present participle strewing, simple past strewed, past participle strewed or strewn)
(archaic except strewn) To distribute objects or pieces of something over an area, especially in a random manner.
(archaic except strewn) To cover, or lie upon, by having been scattered.
(transitive, archaic) To spread abroad; to disseminate.
Synonyms
• scatter, sprinkle
Anagrams
• Trews, trews, werst, wrest
Source: Wiktionary
Strew, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Strewed; p. p. strewn; p. pr. & vb. n.
Strewing.] Etym: [OE. strewen, strawen, AS. strewian, streĂłwian; akin
to Ofries. strewa, OS. strewian, D. strooijen, G. streuen, OHG.
strewen, Icel. stra, Sw. strö, Dan. ströe, Goth. straujan, L.
sternere, stratum, Gr. st. *166. Cf. Stratum, Straw, Street.]
1. To scatter; to spread by scattering; to cast or to throw loosely
apart; -- used of solids, separated or separable into parts or
particles; as, to strew seed in beds; to strew sand on or over a
floor; to strew flowers over a grave.
And strewed his mangled limbs about the field. Dryden.
On a principal table a desk was open and many papers [were] strewn
about. Beaconsfield.
2. To cover more or less thickly by scattering something over or
upon; to cover, or lie upon, by having been scattered; as, they
strewed the ground with leaves; leaves strewed the ground.
The snow which does the top of Pindus strew. Spenser.
Is thine alone the seed that strews the plain Pope.
3. To spread abroad; to disseminate.
She may strew dangerous conjectures. Shak.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition