To be in a stew, is to be in a heat, a confusion of mind. According to Grose, however, who is followed by Todd and Webster, a stew is "confusion, as when the air is foil of dust, smoke, or steam."
Incensed were Isengrim and Bruin,
To see the couple such a stew in.--Reynard the Fox, p. 189.
It aint such an easy thing to feel mad at a rite pretty gall; and the more he feels mad, the more he's apt to feel sorry too. I tell you what, I was in a stew. I didn't know what to do.--Maj. Jones's Courtship, p. 77.
Clay, Calhoun, Van Buren, Benton, Cass, Webster, and all the intriguing politicians, who have kept the country in a stew for years past, may be considered as effectually laid on the shelf.--Newspaper.