noun

• (obsolete) A cooking-dish used for boiling; a cauldron.
• (now historical) A heated bath-room or steam-room; also, a hot bath.
  "And when he came to the chamber there as this lady was the dores of yron vnlocked and vnbolted / And so syr launcelot wente in to the chambre that was as hote as ony stewe / And there syr launcelot toke the fayrest lady by the hand / that euer he sawe / and she was naked as a nedel And when he came to the chamber thereas this lady was, the doors of iron unlocked and unbolted. And so Sir Launcelot went into the chamber that was as hot as any stew. And there Sir Launcelot took the fairest lady by the hand that ever he saw, and she was naked as a needle"
• (archaic) A brothel.
  "[...] and the agrieved person shall doe more manly, to be extraordinary and singular in claiming the due right whereof he is frustrated, then to piece up his lost contentment by visiting the Stews, or stepping to his neighbours bed, which is the common shift in this mis-fortune, or els by suffering his usefull life to wast away and be lost under a secret affliction of an unconscionable size to humane strength."
• (obsolete) A prostitute.
  "But it was so plotted betwixt the Lady, her Husband, and Bristol, that instead of that beauty, he had a notorious Stew sent him, and surely his carriage there was so lascivious..."

verb

• (transitive or intransitive or ergative) To cook (food) by slowly boiling or simmering.
  "I'm going to stew some meat for the casserole."
• (transitive) To brew (tea) for too long, so that the flavour becomes too strong.
• (intransitive, figuratively) To suffer under uncomfortably hot conditions.
  "It was an honest letter, written by an honest man, then stewing in the Plains on two hundred rupees a month (for he allowed his wife eight hundred and fifty), and in a silk banian and cotton trousers."
• (intransitive, figuratively) To be in a state of elevated anxiety or anger.

noun

• (Scotland and England) A cloud of fine particles or droplets; dust, smoke, vapor, mist, or sea-spray.
  "The Verna swerved close, her stern kicking up a stew as she started to back up."

noun

• (informal) A steward or stewardess on an airplane or boat.
  "It is our considered and combined judgement that Germans and actors share honors for being the cheapest dates a stew can accept."