Mew is the soft, high-pitched sound a cat makes. When a kitten wants attention or food, it lets out a gentle mew that's much quieter than a full meow. Adult cats sometimes mew too, especially when greeting their owners or asking for something politely.

You might hear a cat mewing at the door when it wants to come inside, or mewing near its empty food bowl at dinnertime. The sound is usually sweeter and more delicate than a meow, almost like the cat is speaking in a whisper rather than its normal voice.

The word can also be a noun: “The kitten's tiny mew was barely audible from across the room.”

In old-fashioned English, a mew also meant a cage or building where trained hawks were kept, especially during molting season, when they lost their old feathers. You'll sometimes see this usage in historical stories about falconry or medieval castles, where the mews were located near the stables.