Sow
Sow , intransitive verb
Sow , noun
[Old English sowe, suwe, Anglo-Saxon sugu, akin to sū, Dutch zog, zeug, Old High German sū, German sau, Icelandic sȳr, Danish so, Swedish sugga, so, Latin sus. Greek "y^s, sy^s, Zend. hu boar; probably from the root seen in Sanskrit sū to beget, to bear; the animal being named in allusion to its fecundity. r294. Compare Hyena, Soil to stain, Son, Swine.]
1.
(Zoology) The female of swine, or of the hog kind.
2.
(Zoology) A sow bug.
3.
(a) (Metallurgy) A channel or runner which receives the rows of molds in the pig bed.
(b)
(Metallurgy) The bar of metal which remains in such a runner.
(c)
(Metallurgy) A mass of solidified metal in a furnace hearth; a salamander.
4.
(Military) 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
Collocations (3)
Sow bug or Sowbug (Zoology) , any one of numerous species of terrestrial Isopoda belonging to Oniscus, Porcellio, and allied genera of the family Oniscidae. They feed chiefly on decaying vegetable substances.
Sow thistle (Botany) , a composite plant (Sonchus oleraceus) said to be eaten by swine and some other animals.
Sow , transitive verb
[Old English sowen, sawen, Anglo-Saxon sāwan; akin to OFries. s{not transcribed}a, Dutch zaaijen, Old Saxon & HG. sājan, German saen, Icelandic sā, Swedish så, Danish saae, Gothic saian, Lithuanian sēti, Russ. sieiate, Latin serere, sevi. Compare 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.
A sower went forth to sow; and when he sowed, some seeds fell by the wayside.
And sow dissension in the hearts of brothers.
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.
[He] sowed with stars the heaven.
Now morn... sowed the earth with orient pearl.
Sow , intransitive verb
To scatter seed for growth and the production of a crop; -- literally or figuratively.
They that sow in tears shall reap in joi.