The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Stew \Stew\, v. i.
   To be seethed or cooked in a slow, gentle manner, or in heat
   and moisture.
   [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Stew \Stew\, n. [OE. stue, stuwe, OF. estuve. See Stew, v. t.]
   1. A place of stewing or seething; a place where hot bathes
      are furnished; a hothouse. [Obs.]
      [1913 Webster]

            As burning Aetna from his boiling stew
            Doth belch out flames.                --Spenser.
      [1913 Webster]

            The Lydians were inhibited by Cyrus to use any
            armor, and give themselves to baths and stews.
                                                  --Abp. Abbot.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. A brothel; -- usually in the plural. --Bacon. South.
      [1913 Webster]

            There be that hate harlots, and never were at the
            stews.                                --Aschman.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. A prostitute. [Obs.] --Sir A. Weldon.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. A dish prepared by stewing; as, a stewof pigeons.
      [1913 Webster]

   5. A state of agitating excitement; a state of worry;
      confusion; as, to be in a stew. [Colloq.]
      [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Stew \Stew\, n. [Cf. Stow.]
   1. A small pond or pool where fish are kept for the table; a
      vivarium. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.] --Chaucer. Evelyn.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. An artificial bed of oysters. [Local, U.S.]
      [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Stew \Stew\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Stewed; p. pr. & vb. n.
   Stewing.] [OE. stuven, OF. estuver, F. ['e]tuver, fr. OF.
   estuve, F. ['e]tuve, a sweating house, a room heated for a
   bath; probably of Teutonic origin, and akin to E. stove. See
   Stove, and cf. Stive to stew.]
   To boil slowly, or with the simmering or moderate heat; to
   seethe; to cook in a little liquid, over a gentle fire,
   without boiling; as, to stew meat; to stew oysters; to stew
   apples.
   [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

stew
    n 1: agitation resulting from active worry; "don't get in a
         stew"; "he's in a sweat about exams" [syn: fret, stew,
         sweat, lather, swither]
    2: food prepared by stewing especially meat or fish with
       vegetables
    v 1: be in a huff; be silent or sullen [syn: grizzle, brood,
         stew]
    2: bear a grudge; harbor ill feelings [syn: stew, grudge]
    3: cook slowly and for a long time in liquid; "Stew the
       vegetables in wine"

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

427 Moby Thesaurus words for "stew":
   B-girl, Cyprian, Irish stew, Paphian, ado, agitation, agonize,
   all sorts, all-overs, angst, anxiety, anxiety hysteria,
   anxiety neurosis, anxious bench, anxious concern, anxious seat,
   anxiousness, apply the mind, apprehension, apprehensiveness,
   assemblage, assortment, baffle, bafflement, bagnio, bake, barbecue,
   baste, bawdy house, bawdyhouse, be in heat, be livid, be pissed,
   befuddlement, bewilderment, bind, blanch, blaze, bloom, bluster,
   boil, booze up, boozehound, boozify, bordello, bother, botheration,
   bottle sucker, bouillabaisse, braise, breathless impatience, brew,
   broad spectrum, broil, brothel, brown, bum, burn, burn to, burst,
   bustle, call girl, cankerworm of care, care, carry on, cathouse,
   chafe, chafing, chaos, choke, chowder, churn, clip joint, cloud,
   clutch, coddle, combust, commotion, complication, concern,
   concernment, confoundment, confusion, conglomeration, cook, crib,
   crock, crunch, curry, daughter of joy, daze, den, den of thieves,
   den of vice, devil, dilemma, discombobulation, discomfiture,
   discomposure, disconcert, disconcertedness, disconcertion,
   disconcertment, disorder, disorderly house, disorganization,
   disorientation, disquiet, disquietude, distill, distress,
   disturbance, dither, dive, do, do to perfection, dread, dudgeon,
   dump, eagerness, elbow bender, embarrassing position,
   embarrassment, enigma, erring sister, etuvee, excitement,
   fallen woman, fear, feery-fary, ferment, fidgetiness,
   fille de joie, fine how-do-you-do, fire, fit, fix, flame, flame up,
   flap, flare, flare up, fleshpots, flicker, flummox, flurry, flush,
   fluster, flusteration, flustration, flutter, flutteriness, foam,
   fog, foofaraw, foreboding, forebodingness, frenzy, fret,
   fret and fume, fretfulness, fretting, fricassee, frizz, frizzle,
   fry, fuddle, fuddlement, fume, fuss, fussiness, gallimaufry, gasp,
   get excited, ginhound, glow, go on, goulash, griddle, grill,
   gyp joint, hammer at, hammer away at, hardly wait, harlot, hash,
   haste, hasten, have a conniption, haze, heat, hell to pay,
   high dudgeon, hobble, hodgepodge, hole, hooch hound, hooker,
   hot water, hotchpot, hotchpotch, house of assignation,
   house of joy, house of prostitution, how-do-you-do, hubbub, huff,
   hullabaloo, hustler, imbroglio, impatience, impatientness,
   impetuousness, incandesce, inquietude, itch to, jam, joint, jumble,
   jump the gun, lair, lather, lush, lusher, maelstrom, magpie,
   malaise, mash, maze, meat stew, medley, melange, meretrix, mess,
   miff, mingle-mangle, miscellany, misgiving, mishmash, mist, mix,
   mixed bag, mixture, morass, muddle, muddlement, mulligan,
   mulligan stew, mystery, nervous strain, nervous tension,
   nervousness, nonplus, odds and ends, olio, olla, olla podrida,
   omnium-gatherum, oven-bake, overanxiety, overtake, oyster stew,
   paella, painted woman, pan, pan-broil, panel den, panel house,
   pant, parboil, parch, parlous straits, pass, pasticcio, pastiche,
   patchwork, perplexity, perturbation, pet, pickle, pinch,
   pins and needles, pique, pissed off, plaster, plight, poach,
   pollute, pother, potpourri, poule, predicament, prepare,
   prepare food, pretty pass, pretty pickle, pretty predicament,
   problem, prostitute, pucker, puzzle, puzzle over, puzzlement,
   quagmire, quandary, quicksand, radiate heat, rage, ragout,
   raise Cain, raise hell, raise the devil, raise the roof, rant,
   rant and rave, rave, red-light district, restiveness, restlessness,
   riddle, roast, ruffle, rum hound, rummy, salad, salmagundi, sauce,
   saute, scald, scallop, scarlet woman, scorch, scramble, scrape,
   sear, seethe, seraglio, shimmer with heat, shirr, shuffle, simmer,
   sink of iniquity, sizzle, slough, smoke, smolder, smother,
   smoulder, soak, solicitude, souse, spark, spasm, sponge, sporting,
   sporting house, spot, spurt, squeeze, squirm, state, steam,
   stew over, stews, sticky wicket, stifle, stir, stir-fry, stone,
   storm, strain, strait, straits, streetwalker, suffocate, suspense,
   swack, swamp, sweat, sweat and stew, sweat it out, swelter,
   swillbelly, swillbowl, swillpot, swirl, swivet, take on,
   tenderloin, tense readiness, tension, think hard, throw a fit,
   tiff, tight spot, tight squeeze, tightrope, tipsify, tizzy, to-do,
   toast, tricky spot, trouble, tumult, turmoil, twitter,
   twitteration, unassuredness, uneasiness, unfortunate woman,
   unholy mess, unpatientness, unquiet, unquietness, unsettlement,
   upset, vexation, vortex, wait impatiently, what you will, whirl,
   white slave, whore, whorehouse, wino, worry, zeal