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Webster 1913 Edition


Mow

Mow

,
Noun.
[Written also
moe
and
mowe
.]
[F.
moue
pouting, a wry face; cf. OD.
mouwe
the protruded lip.]
A wry face.
“Make mows at him.”
Shak.

Mow

,
Verb.
I.
To make mouths.
Nodding, becking, and
mowing
.
Tyndale.

Mow

,
Noun.
(Zool.)
Same as
Mew
, a gull.

Mow

,
Verb.
[
pres. sing.
Mow
,
pl.
Mowe
,
Mowen
,
Moun
.]
[AS.
magan
. See
May
,
Verb.
]
May; can.
“Thou mow now escapen.”
[Obs.]
Chaucer.
Our walles
mowe
not make hem resistence.
Chaucer.

Mow

(mō)
,
Verb.
T.
[
imp.
Mowed
(mōd)
;
p. p.
Mowed
or
Mown
(mōn)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Mowing
.]
[OE.
mowen
,
mawen
, AS.
māwan
; akin to D.
maaijen
, G.
mähen
, OHG.
mājan
, Dan.
meie
, L.
metere
to reap, mow, Gr.
ἀμᾶν
. Cf.
Math
,
Mead
a meadow,
Meadow
.]
1.
To cut down, as grass, with a scythe or machine.
2.
To cut the grass from;
as, to
mow
a meadow
.
3.
To cut down; to cause to fall in rows or masses, as in mowing grass; – with down;
as, a discharge of grapeshot
mows
down whole ranks of men
.

Mow

,
Verb.
I.
To cut grass, etc., with a scythe, or with a machine; to cut grass for hay.

Mow

(mou)
,
Noun.
[OE.
mowe
, AS.
mūga
.]
1.
A heap or mass of hay or of sheaves of grain stowed in a barn.
2.
The place in a barn where hay or grain in the sheaf is stowed.

Mow

(mou)
,
Verb.
T.
To lay, as hay or sheaves of grain, in a heap or mass in a barn; to pile and stow away.

Webster 1828 Edition


Mow

MOW

,
Noun.
A heap, mass or pile of hay deposited in a barn.
[We never give this name to hay piled in the field or open air. The latter is called a stack or rick.]

MOW

,
Verb.
T.
To lay hay in a heap or mass in a barn, or to lay it in a suitable manner.

MOW

,
Verb.
T.
pret. mower; pp. mowed or mown. [The L. has meto, and the Gr. to mow or reap. The last radical letter is not ascertained.]
1.
To cut down with a scythe, as grass or other plants. We say, to mow grass.
2.
To cut the grass from; as, to mow a meadow.
3.
To cut down with speed; to cut down indiscriminately, or in great numbers or quantity. We say, a discharge of grape shot mows down whole ranks of men. Hence Saturn or Time is represented with a scythe, an emblem of the general and indiscriminate destruction of the human race by death.

MOW

,
Verb.
I.
To cut grass; to practice mowing; to use the scythe. Does the man mow well?
1.
To perform the business of mowing; to cut and make grass into hay; to gather the crop of grass, or other crop.
[In America, mow is not applied to the cutting of wheat or rye. When these are cut with a scythe, they are said to be cradled. Oats and barley are sometimes mowed.]

MOW

,
Noun.
[from mouth.] A wry face.

MOW

,
Verb.
I.
To make mouths.

Definition 2024


mow

mow

See also: MOW and mów

English

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /məʊ/
  • (US) IPA(key): /moʊ/
  • Rhymes: -əʊ

Verb

mow (third-person singular simple present mows, present participle mowing, simple past mowed, past participle mowed or mown)

  1. To cut something (especially grass or crops) down or knock down.
    He mowed the lawn.
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 2

Middle English mowe, from Middle French moue (lip, pout), a borrowing from Old French moe (grimace), from Frankish *mauwa (pout, protruding lip), from Proto-Germanic *mauwō (muff, sleeve). Akin to Middle Dutch mouwe (protruding lip). Cognate to moue (pout).

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /məʊ/
  • (US) IPA(key): /moʊ/
  • Rhymes: -əʊ

Noun

mow (plural mows)

  1. (now only dialectal) A scornful grimace; a wry face. [from 14th c.]
Translations

Verb

mow (third-person singular simple present mows, present participle mowing, simple past and past participle mowed)

  1. To make grimaces, mock.
    • 1610, The Tempest, by Shakespeare, act 2 scene 2
      For every trifle are they set upon me: / Sometime like apes that mow and chatter at me, / And after bite me;
    • Tyndale
      Nodding, becking, and mowing.
Translations

Etymology 3

Old English mūga. Cognate with Norwegian muge (heap, crowd, flock).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /maʊ̯/
  • Rhymes: -aʊ

Noun

mow (plural mows)

  1. (now regional) A stack of hay, corn, beans or a barn for the storage of hay, corn, beans.
  2. The place in a barn where hay or grain in the sheaf is stowed.
Translations

Verb

mow (third-person singular simple present mows, present participle mowing, simple past and past participle mowed)

  1. (agriculture) To put into mows.
Translations

Etymology 4

Noun

mow (plural mows)

  1. Alternative form of mew (a seagull)

See also

Anagrams