sow
nounverbattested in dialogue
- United Kingdom//saʊ//
- United Kingdom//səʊ//
- United States//soʊ//
A female animal A female pig.
noun
- 1
A female animal A female pig.
- 2
A female animal A female bear; she-bear.
Lucky he wasn't a sow. They've usually just dropped a cub this time of year. A sow would have been cranky as hell.
- 3
A female animal A female guinea pig.
- 4
slangA contemptible, often fat woman.
- 5
A channel that conducts molten metal to molds.
- 6
A mass of metal solidified in a mold.
In England, it was generally termed a 'sow', if the weight was above 10 cwts., if below, it was termed a 'pig' from which the present term 'pig iron' is derived.
- 7
A kind of covered shed, formerly used by besiegers in filling up and passing the ditch of a besieged place, sapping and mining the wall, etc.
- 8
Variant of sowbugClipping of sowbug.
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *sew-? Proto-Indo-European *sewH-? Proto-Indo-European *suH-der. Proto-Germanic *sugō Proto-West Germanic *sugu Old English sugu Middle English sowe English sow From Middle English sowe, from Old English sugu, from Proto-West Germanic *sugu, from Proto-Germanic *sugō, probably from Proto-Indo-European *su(H)kéh₂, from *suH- (“pig”). See also West Frisian sûch, Dutch zeug, Low German Söög, German Sau, Swedish sugga, Norwegian sugge; also Welsh hwch (“pig”), Sanskrit सूकर (sūkará, “swine, boar”); also Danish so, German Sau, Latin sūs, Tocharian B suwo, Ancient Greek ὗς (hûs), Albanian thi, Avestan 𐬵𐬏 (hū, “boar”). See also swine. Doublet of soor.
verb
- 1
To scatter, disperse, or plant (seeds).
When I had sown the field, the day's work was over.
- 2
figurativeTo spread abroad; to propagate.
as you sow, so shall you reap
Euen as I haue seene, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickednsse, reape the same.
And sow dissension in the hearts of brothers.
Not surprisingly, it has sown doubt among other operators of diesel-hydraulics; […].
- 3
figurativeTo scatter over; to besprinkle.
The intellectual faculty is a goodly field, […] and it is the worst husbandry in the world to sow it with trifles.
[He] sowd with Starrs the heav'n.
- 4
Variant of sewobsoleteObsolete spelling of sew.
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *seh₁- Proto-Germanic *sēaną Proto-West Germanic *sāan Old English sāwan Middle English sowen English sow From Middle English sowen, from Old English sāwan, from Proto-West Germanic *sāan, from Proto-Germanic *sēaną, from Proto-Indo-European *seh₁-. Compare Dutch zaaien, German säen, Danish så, Norwegian Bokmål så.
Forms
- plural
- sows, swine
- past tense
- sowed
- past participle
- sown
- present participle
- sowing
- third person singular
- sows