sow Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun an adult female hog
  2. verb place (seeds) in or on the ground for future growth
    seed.
    • She sowed sunflower seeds
  3. verb introduce into an environment
    • sow suspicion or beliefs
  4. verb place seeds in or on (the ground)
    sow in; inseminate.
    • sow the ground with sunflower seeds

WordNet

Sow intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To sew. See Sew. Obs. Chaucer.
Sow noun
Etymology
OE. sowe, suwe, AS. sugu, akin to s&umac;, D. zog, zeug, OHG. s&umac;, G. sau, Icel. s&ymac;r, Dan. so, Sw. sugga, so, L. sus. Gr. "y^s, sy^s, Zend. hu boar; probably from the root seen in Skr. s&umac; to beget, to bear; the animal being named in allusion to its fecundity. Cf. Hyena, Soil to stain, Son, Swine.
Definitions
  1. (Zoöl.) The female of swine, or of the hog kind.
  2. (Zoöl.) 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 transitive verb
Etymology
OE. sowen, sawen, AS. sawan; akin to OFries. sa, D. zaaijen, OS. & HG. sajan, G. säen, Icel. sa, Sw. så, Dan. saae, Goth. saian, Lith. seti, Russ. sieiate, L. serere, sevi. Cf. Saturday, Season, Seed, Seminary.
Wordforms
imperfect Sowed ; past participle Sown or Sowed; present participle & verbal noun Sowing
Definitions
  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.
Sow intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. 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.

Webster 1913