MEW (4)

Mew, n. [[OE. mue, F. mue change of feathers, scales, skin, the time or place when the change occurs, fr. muer to molt, mew, L. mutare to change. See 2d Mew.]] 1. 1. A cage for hawks while mewing; a coop for fattening fowls; hence, any inclosure; a place of confinement or shelter; — in the latter sense usually in the plural.
Full many a fat partrich had he in mewe. Chaucer. Forthcoming from her darksome mew. Spenser. Violets in their secret mews. Wordsworth. 2. 2. A stable or range of stables for horses; — compound used in the plural, and so called from the royal stables in London, built on the site of the king's mews for hawks.