pew

Etymology 1

From Middle English pewe, borrowed from Middle French puie (“balustrade”), from Latin podia, plural of podium (“parapet, podium”), from Ancient Greek πόδιον (pódion, “little foot”), from πούς (poús, “foot”). Doublet of podium.

noun

1. One of the long benches in a church, seating several persons, usually fixed to the floor and facing the chancel.
   In many churches some pews are reserved for either clerical or liturgical officials such as canons, or for prominent families.
2. An enclosed compartment in a church which provides seating for a group of people, often a prominent family.
   At St. Patrick’s Cathedral, firefighters in dress blues and white gloves escorted families to the pews for a memorial service, led by Mr. Bloomberg, to honor the 343 Fire Department employees killed on 9/11. September 11 2006, Sheryl Gay Stolberg, “Bush Mourns 9/11 at Ground Zero as N.Y. Remembers”, in The New York Times
3. Any structure shaped like a church pew, such as a stall, formerly used by money lenders, etc.; a box in a theatre; or a pen or sheepfold.
4. (colloquial, humorous) A chair; a seat.
   Pull up a pew.
   Victor Crabbe's headmaster was a little man called Boothby […] who subscribed to a popular book club and had many long-playing records, who invited people to curry tiffin and said, "Take a pew." 1956, Anthony Burgess, Time for a Tiger (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 38

verb

1. To furnish with pews.
   building a gallery and altering the pewing in the church at Catherington 1834, The British Magazine and Monthly Register of Religious and Ecclesiastical Information[…]

Etymology 2

See phew.

intj

1. An expression of disgust in response to an unpleasant odor.

Etymology 3

Onomatopoeic.

intj

1. Representative of the sound made by the firing of a gun.