Note: [Chiefly used in the plural {Thews} (th[=u]z).] [OE.
thew, [thorn]eau, manner, habit, strength, AS.
[thorn]e['a]w manner, habit (cf. [thorn][=y]wan to
drive); akin to OS. thau custom, habit, OHG. dou.
[root]56.]
1. Manner; custom; habit; form of behavior; qualities of
mind; disposition; specifically, good qualities; virtues.
[Obs.]
For her great light Of sapience, and for her thews
clear. --Chaucer.
Evil speeches destroy good thews. --Wyclif (1
Cor. xv. 33).
To be upbrought in gentle thews and martial might.
--Spenser.
2. Muscle or strength; nerve; brawn; sinew. --Shak.
And I myself, who sat apart And watched them, waxed
in every limb; I felt the thews of Anakim, The pules
of a Titan's heart. --Tennyson.