bedew

American

[bih-doo, -dyoo] / bɪˈdu, -ˈdyu /

verb (used with object)

to wet with or as if with dew.

bedew British

/ bɪˈdjuː /

verb

(tr) to wet or cover with or as if with drops of dew

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of bedew

First recorded in 1300–50, bedew is from the Middle English word bydewen. See be-, dew

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“Do not speak so closely to another person with such enthusiasm that you bedew the other man with your spittle,” he said, from a safe distance.

From Washington Times • Sep. 6, 2019

Tears will bedew, if wigs do not bestrew the green.”

From Washington Post • Jul. 19, 2017

It’s a little cooler today, but possibly rainier: Scattered showers may bedew us, with a high of 70.

From New York Times • May 6, 2015

Yes, the Blacks enjoy their freedom, And they won it dearly, too; For the life blood of their thousands Did the southern fields bedew.

From The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar by Howells, William Dean

Thy tears, the leaves thy body form'd, bedew.

From The Metamorphoses of Publius Ovidus Naso in English blank verse Vols. I & II by Howard, J. J.

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023