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Meaning of SOW

Pronunciation:  [n]saw, [v]sow

WordNet Dictionary
 
 Definition: 
  1. [n]  an adult female hog
  2. [v]  introduce into an environment; "sow suspicion or beliefs"
  3. [v]  place (seeds) in the ground for future growth; "She sowed sunflower seeds"
  4. [v]  place seeds in (the ground); "sow the ground with sunflower seeds"
 
 Websites: 
 
 Synonyms: seed, sough, sough
 
 See Also: broadcast, broadcast, circularise, circularize, circulate, diffuse, disperse, disseminate, distribute, lay, pass around, place, pose, position, propagate, put, scatter, set, spread, swine

 

 

Webster's 1913 Dictionary
 
 Definition: 
  1. \Sow\, v. i.
    To sew. See {Sew}. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
    
  2. \Sow\, n. [OE. sowe, suwe, AS. sugu, akin to s[=u], D. zog,
    zeug, OHG. s[=u], G. sau, Icel. s[=y]r, Dan. so, Sw. sugga,
    so, L. sus. Gr. "y^s, sy^s, Zend. hu boar; probably from the
    root seen in Skr. s[=u] to beget, to bear; the animal being
    named in allusion to its fecundity. [root]294. Cf. {Hyena},
    {Soil} to stain, {Son}, {Swine}.]
    1. (Zo["o]l.) The female of swine, or of the hog kind.
    2. (Zo["o]l.) A sow bug.
    3. (Metal.)
       (a) A channel or runner which receives the rows of molds
           in the pig bed.
       (b) The bar of metal which remains in such a runner.
       (c) A mass of solidified metal in a furnace hearth; a
           salamander.
    4. (Mil.) 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, or the like. --Craig.
    {Sow bread}. (Bot.) See {Cyclamen}.
    {Sow bug}, or {Sowbug} (Zo["o]l.), any one of numerous
       species of terrestrial Isopoda belonging to {Oniscus},
       {Porcellio}, and allied genera of the family
       {Oniscid[ae]}. They feed chiefly on decaying vegetable
       substances.
    {Sow thistle} [AS. sugepistel] (Bot.), a composite plant
       ({Sonchus oleraceus}) said to be eaten by swine and some
       other animals.
    
  3. \Sow\, v. t. [imp. {Sowed}; p. p. {Sown}or {Sowed}; p. pr. &
    vb. n. {Sowing}.] [OE. sowen, sawen, AS. s[=a]wan; akin to
    OFries. s?a, D. zaaijen, OS. & HG. s[=a]jan, G. s["a]en,
    Icel. s[=a], Sw. s[*a], Dan. saae, Goth. saian, Lith.
    s[=e]ti, Russ. sieiate, L. serere, sevi. Cf. {Saturday},
    {Season}, {Seed}, {Seminary}.]
    1. To scatter, as seed, upon the earth; to plant by strewing;
       as, to sow wheat. Also used figuratively: To spread
       abroad; to propagate. ``He would sow some difficulty.''
       --Chaucer.
             A sower went forth to sow; and when he sowed, some
             seeds fell by the wayside.            --Matt. xiii.
                                                   3, 4.
             And sow dissension in the hearts of brothers.
                                                   --Addison.
    2. To scatter seed upon, in, or over; to supply or stock, as
       land, with seeds. Also used figuratively: To scatter over;
       to besprinkle.
             The intellectual faculty is a goodly field, . . .
             and it is the worst husbandry in the world to sow it
             with trifles.                         --Sir M. Hale.
             [He] sowed with stars the heaven.     --Milton.
             Now morn . . . sowed the earth with orient pearl.
                                                   --Milton.
    
  4. \Sow\, v. i.
    To scatter seed for growth and the production of a crop; --
    literally or figuratively.
          They that sow in tears shall reap in joi. --Ps. cxxvi.
                                                   5.
    
 

 

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