(pron. like shoe,) for showed. Ex. 'I shew him the difference between black and white.' This corruption is so common among all classes in the "American Athens," as to form a sort of shibboleth for distinguishing a Bostonian.
Several years ago this corrupt preterite was very common in New England; but it is now much less used than formerly. Mr. Pegge, in his ironical defence of know'd for knew, mentions the following singular instances of irregular preterite verbs ending in ew or ow: "The modern past tense, I knew, seems to have been imported from the north of England, where the expressions are, 'I sew (instead of I sow'd), my corn;' 'I mew (that is, I mow'd) my hay;' and, 'it snew,' for it snowed."--Pickering.