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Webster 1913 Edition

Bow

Bow

(bou)
,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Bowed
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Bowing
.]
[OE.
bowen
,
bogen
,
bugen
, AS.
būgan
(generally v. i.); akin to D.
buigen
, OHG.
biogan
, G.
biegen
,
beugen
, Icel.
boginn
bent,
beygja
to bend, Sw.
böja
, Dan.
böie
,
bugne
, Coth.
biugan
; also to L.
fugere
to flee, Gr. [GREEK], and Skr.
bhuj
to bend. √88. Cf.
Fugitive
.]
1.
To cause to deviate from straightness; to bend; to inflect; to make crooked or curved.
We
bow
things the contrary way, to make them come to their natural straightness.
Milton.
The whole nation
bowed
their necks to the worst kind of tyranny.
Prescott.
2.
To exercise powerful or controlling influence over; to bend, figuratively; to turn; to incline.
Adversities do more
bow
men’s minds to religion.
Bacon.
Not to
bow
and bias their opinions.
Fuller.
3.
To bend or incline, as the head or body, in token of respect, gratitude, assent, homage, or condescension.
They came to meet him, and
bowed
themselves to the ground before him.
2 Kings ii. 15.
4.
To cause to bend down; to prostrate; to depress,;[GREEK] to crush; to subdue.
Whose heavy hand hath
bowed
you to the grave.
Shakespeare
5.
To express by bowing;
as, to
bow
one's thanks
.

Bow

(bou)
,
Verb.
I.
1.
To bend; to curve.
[Obs.]
2.
To stop.
[Archaic]
They stoop, they
bow
down together.
Is. xlvi. 2[GREEK]
3.
To bend the head, knee, or body, in token of reverence or submission; – often with down.
O come, let us worship and
bow
down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker.
Ps. xcv. 6.
4.
To incline the head in token of salutation, civility, or assent; to make bow.
Admired, adored by all circling crowd,
For wheresoe'er she turned her face, they
bowed
.
Dryden.

Bow

(bou)
,
Noun.
An inclination of the head, or a bending of the body, in token of reverence, respect, civility, or submission; an obeisance;
as, a
bow
of deep humility
.

Bow

(bō)
,
Noun.
[OE.
bowe
,
boge
, AS.
boga
, fr. AS.
būgan
to bend; akin to D.
boog
, G.
bogen
, Icel.
bogi
. See
Bow
,
Verb.
T.
]
1.
Anything bent, or in the form of a curve, as the rainbow.
I do set my
bow
in the cloud.
Gen. ix. 13.
2.
A weapon made of a strip of wood, or other elastic material, with a cord connecting the two ends, by means of which an arrow is propelled.
3.
An ornamental knot, with projecting loops, formed by doubling a ribbon or string.
4.
The U-shaped piece which embraces the neck of an ox and fastens it to the yoke.
5.
(Mus.)
An appliance consisting of an elastic rod, with a number of horse hairs stretched from end to end of it, used in playing on a stringed instrument.
6.
An arcograph.
7.
(Mech. & Manuf.)
Any instrument consisting of an elastic rod, with ends connected by a string, employed for giving reciprocating motion to a drill, or for preparing and arranging the hair, fur, etc., used by hatters.
8.
(Naut.)
A rude sort of quadrant formerly used for taking the sun's altitude at sea.
9.
(Saddlery)
s
ing.
or
pl.
Two pieces of wood which form the arched forward part of a saddletree.
Bow bearer
(O. Eng. Law)
,
an under officer of the forest who looked after trespassers.
–
Bow drill
,
a drill worked by a bow and string.
–
Bow instrument
(Mus.)
,
any stringed instrument from which the tones are produced by the bow.
–
Bow window
(Arch.)
See
Bay window
.
–
To draw a long bow
,
to lie; to exaggerate.
[Colloq.]

Bow

(bō)
,
Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Bowed
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Bowing
.]
To play (music) with a bow.
–
Verb.
I.
To manage the bow.

Bow

(bō)
,
Noun.
[Icel.
bōgr
shoulder, bow of a ship. See
Bough
.]
1.
(Naut.)
The bending or rounded part of a ship forward; the stream or prow.
2.
(Naut.)
One who rows in the forward part of a boat; the bow oar.
Bow chaser
(Naut.)
,
a gun in the bow for firing while chasing another vessel.
Totten.
–
Bow piece
,
a piece of ordnance carried at the bow of a ship.
–
On the bow
(Naut.)
,
on that part of the horizon within 45° on either side of the line ahead.
Totten.

Webster 1828 Edition

Bow

BOW

,
Verb.
T.
1.
To bend; to inflect; as, to bow vines.
2.
To bend the body in token of respect or civility; as, to bow the head.
3.
To bend or incline towards, in condescension.
Bow down thine ear to the poor. Eccles.
4.
To depress; to crush; to subdue.
His heavy hand hath bowed you to the grave.
He bows the nations to his will.

BOW

,
Verb.
I.
To bend; to curve; to be inflected; to bend, in token of reverence, respect or civility; often with down.
This is the idol to which the world bows.
1.
To stoop; to fall upon the knees.
The people bowed upon their knees.
2.
To sink under pressure.
They stoop; they bow down together. Isaiah.

BOW

,
Noun.
An inclination of the head, or a bending of the body, in token of reverence, respect, civility, or submission.

BOW

,
Noun.
[See bow, to bend.] An instrument of war, and hunting, made of wood, or other elastic matter, with a string fastened to each end. The bow being bent by drawing the string, and suddenly returning to its natural state by its elastic force, throws an arrow to a great distance, and with force sufficient to kill an animal. It is of two kinds, the long-bow, and the cross-bow, arbalest or arbalest. The use of the bow is called archery.
1.
Any thing bent, or in form of a curve; the rainbow; the doubling of a string in a knot; the part of a yoke which embraces the neck; &c.
2.
A small machine, formed with a stick and hairs, which being drawn over the strings of an instrument of music, causes it to sound.
3.
A beam of wood or brass, with three long screws that direct a lathe of wood or steel to any arch; used in forming drafts of ships, and projections of the sphere, or wherever it is necessary to draw large arches.
4.
An instrument for taking the sun's altitude at sea, consisting of a large arch of ninety degrees graduated, a shank or staff, a side-vane, a sight-vane, and a horizon-vane; now disused.
5.
An instrument in use among smiths for turning a drill; with turners, for turning wood; with hatters, for breaking fur and wool.
6.
Bows of a saddle, are the two pieces of wood laid archwise to receive the upper part of a horse's back, to give the saddle its due form, and to keep it tight.
7.
Bow of a ship, is the rounding part of her side forward, beginning where the planks arch inwards, and terminating where they close, at the stem or prow. A narrow bow is called a lean bow; a broad one, a bold or bluff bow.
On the bow, in navigation, is an arch of the horizon, not exceeding 45 degrees, comprehended between some distant object, and that point of the compass which is right ahead.

Definition 2024

bow

bow

See also: Bow and bōw

English

Pronunciation

Noun

a bow (1)
Four different types of bow (3)

bow ‎(plural bows)

  1. A weapon made of a curved piece of wood or other flexible material whose ends are connected by a string, used for shooting arrows.
  2. A curved bend in a rod or planar surface, or in a linear formation such as a river (see oxbow).
  3. A rod with horsehair (or an artificial substitute) stretched between the ends, used for playing various stringed musical instruments.
  4. A stringed instrument (chordophone), consisting of a stick with a single taut cord stretched between the ends, most often played by plucking.
  5. A type of knot with two loops, used to tie together two cords such as shoelaces or apron strings, and frequently used as decoration, such as in gift-wrapping.
  6. Anything bent or curved, such as a rainbow.
    • Bible, Genesis ix. 13
      I do set my bow in the cloud.
  7. The U-shaped piece which goes around the neck of an ox and fastens it to the yoke.
  8. Any instrument consisting of an elastic rod, with ends connected by a string, employed for giving reciprocating motion to a drill, or for preparing and arranging hair, fur, etc., used by hatters.
  9. (nautical) A crude sort of quadrant formerly used for taking the sun's altitude at sea.
  10. (saddlery) Two pieces of wood which form the arched forward part of a saddletree.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations

Verb

bow ‎(third-person singular simple present bows, present participle bowing, simple past and past participle bowed)

  1. To play music on (a stringed instrument) using a bow.
    The musician bowed his violin expertly.
  2. (intransitive) To become bent or curved.
    The shelf bowed under the weight of the books.
  3. (transitive) To make something bend or curve.
    • Milton
      We bow things the contrary way, to make them come to their natural straightness.
    • Prescott
      The whole nation bowed their necks to the worst kind of tyranny.
  4. (transitive, figuratively) To exercise powerful or controlling influence over; to bend, figuratively; to turn; to incline.
    • Francis Bacon
      Adversities do more bow men's minds to religion.
    • Fuller
      not to bow and bias their opinions
  5. (intransitive) To premiere.
    Cronenberg’s "Cosmopolis" bows in Cannes this week.
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English buwen, buȝen, from Old English būgan, from Proto-Germanic *beuganą, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰūgʰ- ‎(“to bend”). Cognate with Dutch buigen, German biegen, Danish bue.

Pronunciation

  • enPR: bou, IPA(key): /baʊ/
  • Rhymes: -aʊ
  • Homophone: bough

Verb

bow ‎(third-person singular simple present bows, present participle bowing, simple past and past participle bowed)

  1. (intransitive) To bend oneself as a gesture of respect or deference.
    • 1900, L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
      The soldier now blew upon a green whistle, and at once a young girl, dressed in a pretty green silk gown, entered the room. She had lovely green hair and green eyes, and she bowed low before Dorothy as she said, "Follow me and I will show you your room."
    • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 4, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:
      I told him about everything I could think of; and what I couldn't think of he did. He asked about six questions during my yarn, but every question had a point to it. At the end he bowed and thanked me once more. As a thanker he was main-truck high; I never see anybody so polite.
    That singer always bows towards her audience for some reason.‎
  2. (transitive and intransitive) To debut.
    • 2010 (publication date), Kara Krekeler, "Rebuilding the opera house", West End Word, volume 39, number 26, December 22, 2010 – January 11, 2011, page 1:
      SCP recently announced that How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical will bow on the newly renovated stage next December.
  3. (intransitive) To defer (to something).
    I bow to your better judgement in the matter.‎
Hypernyms
Derived terms
Translations

Noun

bow ‎(plural bows)

  1. A gesture, usually showing respect, made by inclining the head or bending forward at the waist; a reverence
    He made a polite bow as he entered the room.
Hypernyms
Translations

Etymology 3

From Middle Dutch boech or Old Norse bógr.

Pronunciation

  • enPR: bou, IPA(key): /baʊ/
  • Rhymes: -aʊ
  • Homophone: bough

Noun

The bow of a ship.

bow ‎(plural bows)

  1. (nautical) The front of a boat or ship.
    • 1907, Harold Bindloss, chapter 6, in The Dust of Conflict:
      The night was considerably clearer than anybody on board her desired when the schooner Ventura headed for the land. It rose in places, black and sharp against the velvety indigo, over her dipping bow, though most of the low littoral was wrapped in obscurity.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Derived terms
Translations

See also

Anagrams

Vilamovian

Pronunciation

Noun

bōw f (plural bowa)

  1. woman
  2. wife

Etymology

From Middle English bowe, boȝe, from Old English boga, from Proto-Germanic *bugô. Cognate with West Frisian boge, Dutch boog, German Bogen, Danish bue, Swedish båge.

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