bow
Forms
- Plural
- bows
- present (v1)
- bow
- past (v2)
- bowed
- past participle (v3)
- bowed
- present participle
- bowing
- 3rd person singular
- bows
Definitions
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.
- I bow to the boss in greeting, and he returns my bow with a nod.
2.A curved bend in a rod or planar surface, or in a linear formation such as a river (see oxbow).
- I bow to the boss in greeting, and he returns my bow with a nod.
3.A rod with horsehair (or an artificial substitute) stretched between the ends, used for playing various stringed musical instruments.
- I bow to the boss in greeting, and he returns my bow with a nod.
4.A stringed instrument (chordophone), consisting of a stick with a single taut cord stretched between the ends, most often played by plucking.
- I bow to the boss in greeting, and he returns my bow with a nod.
1.To bend or curve, particularly downward.
- The shelf bowed under the weight of the books.
- The whole nation […]bowed their necks to the worst kind of tyranny.
- How long wil ye imagine mischiefe against a man? ye shall be slaine all of you: as a bowing wall shall ye be, and as a tottering fence.
2.To exercise powerful or controlling influence over; to bend or incline, figuratively; to humble or subdue.
- Adversities do more bow men's minds to religion.
3.To bend oneself as a gesture of respect or deference.
- That singer always bows towards her audience for some reason.
4.To play music on (a stringed) instrument using a bow.
- The musician bowed his violin expertly.
Frequency
Overall
Rare· #4724
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Rare
- General reading & writing
- Rare
- Academic
- Rare
- Literature
- Rare
Etymology
From Middle English bowe, from Old English boga, Proto-West Germanic *bogō, from Proto-Germanic *bugô.
Cognates