bestrew

[ bih-stroo ]

verb (used with object)

, be·strewed, be·strewed or be·strewn, be·strew·ing.

1. to strew or cover (a surface).
2. to strew or scatter about.
3. to lie scattered over.

bestrew

/ bɪˈstruː /

verb

1. tr to scatter or lie scattered over (a surface)

Word History and Origins

Origin of bestrew¹

before 1000; Middle English bistrewen, Old English bestrēowian. See be-, strew

Example Sentences

Lafayette Square, bestrewed with garbage and covered with graffiti, looked terrible in the images that emerged, and the president didn’t look much better.

From Washington Post

Why, Daedalus wondered, are the world’s cities bestrewed with graffiti even though scientists, years ago, had perfected the porcelain enamel surfaces that make self-cleaning ovens possible?

From New York Times

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

From Washington Post

Some he depicted as he saw them, bestrewn with marble stumps and fallen capitals.

From New York Times

More than a decade after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, concrete security barriers still bestrew the east side of 23rd Street NW.

From Washington Post

Related Words

• daub
• mottle
• smudge
• speckle