Obs. exc. dial. Also 9 tue. [f. TEW v.1]
† 1. The tawing of leather: see TEW v.1 1. Obs.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 489/2. Tew, or tewynge of lethyr.
† 2. The work of preparation; labor. Obs.
1644. Hartlib’s Legacy (1655), 286. Each Acre shall be worth … at least six pound, thirteen shillings, four pence for the tew onely, and at least six pound, thirteen shillings and four pence more for the seed.
3. Constant work and bustling; a state of worry or excitement, dial. and U.S.
1825. Brockett, N. C. Words, s.v. Tue, Sare tues, great difficulty in accomplishing any thing.
1866. E. Tabor, Rachel’s Secr., I. vii. 103. There was no end of the tew and worry in a farm-house.
1880. Tennyson, Northern Cobbler, ix. When we coom’d into Meeätin’, at fust she wur all in a tew.
1883. Howells, Woman’s Reason (Tauchn.), II. 27. My wife was always in a tew about the danger.
