seamew

seamew

English

Alternative forms

• sea-mew, sea mew

Etymology

From Middle English semewe, semawe (“seagull”), equivalent to sea +‎ mew (“gull”).

Noun

seamew (plural seamews)

1. The common gull (Larus canus).
   • 1849, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, In Memoriam A.H.H., canto CXV:

     Now dance the lights on lawn and lea,
     The flocks are whiter down the vale,
     And milkier every milky sail
     On winding stream or distant sea;
     Where now the seamew pipes, or dives
     In yonder greening gleam, and fly
     The happy birds, that change their sky
     To build and brood

Anagrams

• meawes, swamee