Definition of "slew"

slew¹

/sluː/

noun
plural slews
1. The act, or process of slewing.
2. A device used for slewing.
3. A change of position.
verb
third-person singular simple present slews, present participle slewing, simple past and past participle slewed
1. (transitive, nautical) To rotate or turn something about its axis.
  Quotations
  His gunnery officer, Lieutenant Commander William R. D. Nickelson, Jr., preferred to respond with other hardware. At once he shouted into his headset mike: "Fuck that! Open fire!" His assistant, Lloyd Mustin, was recording accurate ranges from the narrowcasting fire-control radar and didn't need help from other wavelengths. "Action port. Illuminating ship is target," he instructed his gun captains. Mustin, controlling the after trio of five-inch mounts, and Nickelson slewed their directors onto the lights and opened fire immediately.
  2011, James D. Hornfischer, “28: Into the Light”, in Neptune's Inferno: The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal‎, New York: Bantam Books, retrieved 21 November 2022, pages 273–274
2. (transitive) To veer a vehicle.
  Quotations
  As the 5th Battle Squadron comes into the range of the High Seas Fleet, Admiral Evan-Thomas, who, so far, has dutifully followed Beatty's orders (or lack of them), has finally had just about enough. He can see the danger, plain as day, as the High Seas Fleet's leading elements open up a barrage with every gun they possess. He therefore issues his own squadron orders to expect to have to make sudden course changes and to follow his lead, before ordering the wheel hard over and slewing Barham around. Valiant and Warspite move to follow, replicating the "turn in succession" order, whilst the trailing HMS Malaya sees the oncoming danger and prepares to turn as soon as it possibly can without crashing into Warspite.
  2020 July 15, Drachinifel, 1:04:58 from the start, in The Battle of Jutland - Clash of the Titans - Part 1 (Beatty vs Hipper)‎, archived from the original on 15 October 2022
3. (transitive) To insert extra ticks or skip some ticks of a clock to slowly correct its time.
4. (intransitive) To pivot.
5. (intransitive) To skid.
6. (transitive, rail transport) To move something (usually a railway line) sideways.
  Quotations
  Treforest: The track has been slewed to create space for the new island station platform at Treforest Estate, on the Cardiff-Merthyr line.
  2022 November 16, Howard Johnston, “Regional News: Wales”, in RAIL, number 970, page 27
7. (transitive, Britain, slang) To make a public mockery of someone through insult or wit.

slew²

/sluː/

noun
plural slews
1. A wet place; a river inlet.
  Quotations
  The prairie round about is wet, at times almost marshy, especially at the borders of the great reedy slews.
  1885, Theodore Roosevelt, Hunting Trips of a Ranchman

slew³

/sluː/

verb
1. simple past of slay

slew⁴

/sluː/

noun
plural slews
1. (US) A large amount.
  Quotations
  There has been a slew of documents about Scottish transport planning in recent weeks.
  2021 February 24, Philip Haigh, “A shift from cars: Scotland's railways are friends of electric!”, in RAIL, number 915, page 30