Tow

//təʊ// name, noun, phrase, verb, slang

Definitions

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname.
Noun
  1. 1
    The act of towing and the condition of being towed.

    "It isn't the car's battery; I think I need a tow."

  2. 2
    An untwisted bundle of fibres such as cellulose acetate, flax, hemp or jute. countable, uncountable

    "And the strong shall be as towe, and the maker of it as a sparke, and they shall both burne together, and none shall quench them."

  3. 3
    Initialism of tube-launched, optically tracked, wire-guided: a kind of antitank missile. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism

    "The American-made TOW antitank missiles began arriving in the region in 2013, through a covert program run by the United States, Saudi Arabia and other allies to help certain C.I.A.-vetted insurgent groups battle the Syrian government."

  4. 4
    the act of hauling something (as a vehicle) by means of a hitch or rope wordnet
  5. 5
    Something, such as a tugboat, that tows.
Show 4 more definitions
  1. 6
    The short, coarse, less desirable fibres separated by hackling from the finer longer fibres (line). countable, specifically, uncountable
  2. 7
    Something, such as a barge, that is towed.
  3. 8
    A rope or cable used in towing.
  4. 9
    A speed increase given by driving in front of another car on a straight, which causes a slipstream for the car behind.

    "On Saturday, Vettel was very unhappy with Leclerc's failure to work out a way through the traffic and give him a tow for the second runs in qualifying, as had been agreed."

Phrase
  1. 1
    Initialism of The One with ... or The One Where ...: used to refer to episodes of the American television sitcom Friends. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism, slang

    "TOW the Prom Video"

Verb
  1. 1
    To pull something behind one, such as by using a line, chain, or tongue. transitive

    "Near-synonyms: draw, haul, pull, trail"

  2. 2
    drag behind wordnet
  3. 3
    To aid someone behind by shielding them from wind resistance. usually

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English towen, from Old English togian, from Proto-West Germanic *togōn, from Proto-Germanic *tugōną, from Proto-Indo-European *dewk-. See also Middle High German zogen, German ziehen, Dutch tijgen, Old Norse toga.

Etymology 2

From Middle English towen, from Old English togian, from Proto-West Germanic *togōn, from Proto-Germanic *tugōną, from Proto-Indo-European *dewk-. See also Middle High German zogen, German ziehen, Dutch tijgen, Old Norse toga.

Etymology 3

From Middle English touw, from Old English tow- (“spinning”) (in compounds, e.g. towcræft, towhūs, towlic), from Proto-Germanic *tawwą; compare Old Norse tó (“uncleansed wool”), Dutch touw (“rope”). Perhaps cognate with Old English tawian (“prepare for use”), Gothic 𐍄𐌰𐌿𐌾𐌰𐌽 (taujan, “do, make”).

Etymology 4

* As an English surname, variant of Tough, from the adjective tough. Also compare the Scottish surname Tulloch. * As a Chinese surname, converged from several Romanizations, such as 陶 (Dao), 曹 (cáo) (Cao), 杜 (dù) (Du), 蘇 /苏 (sū) (Su).

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