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# ew

interjection (informal; also «eww», «ewww»)

«ew» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

(informal) "Ew!" is a sound people make to show disgust, when something seems dirty, smelly or gross. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/ew/#m1)

### In the lessons

Very common in children's speech, chat and comics, especially in North America but now everywhere. It tells the reader that a character finds something disgusting, like slime, a bug or kissing. In writing, the more w's, the stronger the feeling ("ewwww"). Phrases: «Ew, gross!», «Eww, that's disgusting».

### Examples

- Ew! There's a slug in my shoe! [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/ew/#x1)
- "Ew, gross!" said Chloe when her brother burped. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/ew/#x2)
- Eww, this milk smells off. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/ew/#x3)
- "They're kissing!" "Ewww!" [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/ew/#x4)
- Ew, don't touch that, it's sticky. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/ew/#x5)
- The class all said "ew" when the teacher showed the worm. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/ew/#x6)

### Note

An interjection, not a full word; usually written with an exclamation mark. Pronounced like "eee-oo". Spelling varies (ew, eww, ewww). Similar: yuck, ugh, gross. It is informal, so not used in school essays except in speech marks.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «ew» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/ew/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«ew» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/ew.html) on Mova free.