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Sow

//saʊ// name, noun, verb, slang

Definitions

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname. countable, uncountable
  2. 2
    A river in Staffordshire, England, which joins the River Trent. countable, uncountable
Noun
  1. 1
    A female pig.
  2. 2
    Initialism of statement of work (“a document in project management, including deliverables and timelines”). abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
  3. 3
    an adult female hog wordnet
  4. 4
    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."

  5. 5
    Initialism of standoff weapon. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
Show 6 more definitions
  1. 6
    A female guinea pig.
  2. 7
    A channel that conducts molten metal to molds.
  3. 8
    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."

  4. 9
    A contemptible, often fat woman. derogatory, slang
  5. 10
    A sowbug.
  6. 11
    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.
Verb
  1. 1
    To scatter, disperse, or plant (seeds). ambitransitive

    "When I had sown the field, the day's work was over."

  2. 2
    introduce into an environment wordnet
  3. 3
    To spread abroad; to propagate. (usu. negative connotation) figuratively

    "As you sow, so shall you reap."

  4. 4
    place (seeds) in or on the ground for future growth wordnet
  5. 5
    To scatter over; to besprinkle. figuratively

    "The intellectual faculty is a goodly field, […] and it is the worst husbandry in the world to sow it with trifles."

Show 2 more definitions
  1. 6
    place seeds in or on (the ground) wordnet
  2. 7
    Obsolete spelling of sew. alt-of, obsolete

Etymology

Etymology 1

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.

Etymology 2

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.

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