- The definition of a sow is a female adult pig.
An example of a sow is the mother of the baby pigs.
- Sow is defined as to spread or scatter something over an area of land.
An example of to sow is scattering sunflower seeds to grow a sunflower garden.
- an adult female pig
- an adult female of certain other mammals, as the bear
- a channel or sluice carrying molten metal from a blast furnace to the molds in which pig bars are cast
- a large mass of metal that has solidified in this channel
Origin of sowMiddle English sowe ; from Old English sugu, akin to German sau (OHG su) ; from Indo-European base an unverified form s?-, pig from source swine, Classical Latin sus
- to scatter or plant (seed) for growing
- to plant seed in or on (a field, ground, earth, etc.)
- to spread or scatter; broadcast, disseminate, or propagate: to sow hate
- to implant; inculcate: to sow suspicion
Origin of sowMiddle English sowen ; from Old English sawan, akin to German säen ; from Indo-European base an unverified form s?(i) from source seed
- a. An adult female pig, especially one that has had at least one litter.b. The adult female of several other animals, such as the bear.
- a. A channel that conducts molten iron to the molds in a pig bed.b. The mass of metal solidified in such a channel or mold.
Origin of sowMiddle English, from Old English sugu and Old English s&umacron;; see s&umacron;- in Indo-European roots.
verbsowed, sown or sowed, sow·ing, sows
- To scatter (seed) over the ground for growing.
- To scatter seed over (land, for example).
- To strew something around or over (an area); distribute something over: “The yard was sown with cement sculpture” (Ashley Warlick).
- To propagate; disseminate: sow rumors.
Origin of sowMiddle English sowen, from Old English sawan; see s&emacron;- in Indo-European roots.
(plural sows or swine)
The plural form swine is now obsolete in this sense.
From Middle English sowe, from Old English sugu, from Proto-Germanic *sugÅ (compare West Frisian sÃ»ch, Dutch zeug, Low German SÃ¶Ã¶g, Swedish sugga, Norwegian sugge), from Proto-Indo-European *suhâ‚‚kÃ©hâ‚‚ (compare Welsh hwch (“pig"), Sanskrit à¤¸à¥‚à¤•à¤° (sÅ«karÃ¡, “swine, boar")), from *suhâ‚‚-, *sÅ«- "˜pig' (compare German Sau, Latin sÅ«s, Tocharian B suwo, Ancient Greek á½—Ï‚ (há»¹s), Albanian thi, Avestan hÅ« (“boar") [script?]). See also swine.
(third-person singular simple present sows, present participle sowing, simple past sowed, past participle sown)