How to Use yew in a Sentence

yew

noun
  • My job is to tell you when something smells fishy, and, well, p-yew.
    — Amy Lindgren, Twin Cities, 21 Mar. 2026
  • Plan on at least two to three years for yews to recover.
    — Tim Johnson, Chicago Tribune, 7 Mar. 2026
  • Most yews are very low-maintenance shrubs.
    — Megan Hughes, Better Homes & Gardens, 31 Dec. 2025
  • For example, a yew shrub can live in a shady yard, but a pine needs full sun.
    — Beth Botts, Chicago Tribune, 2 Feb. 2025
  • Juniper and pine will have a more noticeable scent than spruce, fir, or yew.
    — Sheryl Geerts, Better Homes & Gardens, 3 Dec. 2024
  • The kitchen faces the glass atrium, which on cool days can be opened up to a side yard shaded with a large yew tree.
    — Contributing Writer, NOLA.com, 18 Dec. 2017
  • Learn how waste becomes grower’s gold Want to get rid of the toxic yew in your yard?
    — Joe Jaszewski, idahostatesman, 17 Mar. 2017
  • The pool was expected to have an apple or rose walk, a yew hedge, and a vegetable garden.
    — Ryan Hogg, Fortune Europe, 27 Mar. 2024
  • In the elegant study—a former home theater—a vintage burr yew wood desk holds court.
    — Busola Evans, Architectural Digest, 9 Dec. 2024
  • The mood is not for cubes of boxwood and precision-cut yew, but a wilder shagginess.
    — Kendra Wilson, Vogue, 21 May 2019
  • Just steer clear of using yew bushes, as the plants are highly toxic to humans and pets!
    — Lauren Landers, Better Homes & Gardens, 26 Nov. 2025
  • Plum yew can be grown everywhere in the South except for frost-free climates.
    — Melissa Locker, Southern Living, 1 May 2026
  • This trimmer worked smoothly cutting through softer growth on both yew and spirea shrubs but struggled with tougher woody parts.
    — Alice Knisley Matthias, Better Homes & Gardens, 31 Jan. 2025
  • Avoid giving your hermit crab wood from apple, mango, hemlock or yew trees, though, as these can have toxic bark.
    — Bestreviews, Mercury News, 15 June 2026
  • The cherry laurels look great, but the Japanese yews are struggling.
    — Neil Sperry, San Antonio Express-News, 14 Apr. 2023
  • Sea buckthorn and yew are suitable for creating barriers or hedges due to their dense growth and resilience.
    — Megan Hughes, Better Homes & Gardens, 28 Apr. 2026
  • None of these species are super fast-growing, but boxwoods and the upright yew varieties are among the slowest.
    — Miri Talabac, Baltimore Sun, 29 Feb. 2024
  • Chemicals in the yew disrupt function of the heart, leading to death by cardiac arrest.
    — Evan Simko-Bednarski, New York Daily News, 16 June 2026
  • Most of those shrubs are of just a few kinds — standard varieties of yew, boxwood, juniper and arborvitae.
    — Beth Botts, Chicago Tribune, 8 Mar. 2026
  • For other areas, there are spreading forms of the Japanese yew and junipers.
    — Dick Crum, Indianapolis Star, 8 Dec. 2017
  • For instance, deer will generally eat yews and arborvitae, and leave boxwood alone.
    — Tim Johnson, chicagotribune.com, 17 Apr. 2018
  • There’s also a playground, a yew maze, Rose Garden, and topiary chess set.
    — Ellen Scolnic, Philly.com, 9 Feb. 2018
  • And after trimming severall large yews and a spirea for over a half hour, the battery indicator light still showed full.
    — Alice Knisley Matthias, Better Homes & Gardens, 31 Jan. 2025
  • Most of us picture formal estates dotted with giant animals shaped from boxwood or yew.
    — Norman Vanamee, Town & Country, 12 May 2021
  • The best evergreens to prune in mid- to late-summer are yews, arborvitae, hemlocks, and junipers.
    — Lee Wallender, The Spruce, 10 Jan. 2026
  • Be careful planting yew shrubs around children7 and animals8 because most parts of the plant are toxic if ingested.
    — Megan Hughes, Better Homes & Gardens, 28 Apr. 2026
  • While bushwhacking through hellish yew thickets, the sling kept twisting and finally unscrewed the swivel stud.
    — John B. Snow, Outdoor Life, 14 Feb. 2020
  • It is thought that the yew was used to create longbows for his royal archers in the lead-up to the Battle of Bannockburn.
    — Demetrius Simms, Robb Report, 7 June 2023
  • Large, overgrown yews are very common in home gardens and typical along house foundations, often in odd shapes caused by years of shearing.
    — Tim Johnson, Chicago Tribune, 3 Jan. 2026
  • The plants included shrubs and birch trees that still live in Greenland today, but also poplar, spruce and yew trees that are only found further south.
    — Will Sullivan, Smithsonian Magazine, 9 Dec. 2022

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'yew.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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