1
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Phrase(s): *in a stew (about someone or something)
Fig. upset or bothered about someone or something. (*Typically: be ~; get [into] ~.) • I’m in such a stew about my dog. She ran away last night. • Now, now. Don’t get in a stew. She’ll be back when she gets hungry.
McGrawhill's American Idioms And Phrasal Verbs
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Agitated, alarmed, or anxious. For example, Mary was in a stew about how her cake was going to turn out. It is Also put as get in or into a stew, as in Every Saturday the minister got in a stew about Sunday's sermon. This expression transfers the mixture of meat and vegetables constituting a stew to overheated mixed emotions. [c. 1800]
American Heritage Idioms