Pronunciation Noun
bow (plural bows)
- A weapon made of a curved piece of wood or other flexible material whose ends are connected by a string, used for shooting arrows.
- A curved bend in a rod or planar surface, or in a linear formation such as a river (see oxbow).
- A rod with horsehair (or an artificial substitute) stretched between the ends, used for playing various stringed musical instruments.
- A stringed instrument (chordophone), consisting of a stick with a single taut cord stretched between the ends, most often played by plucking.
- 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.
- Anything bent or curved, such as a rainbow.
- Bible, Genesis ix. 13
- I do set my bow in the cloud.
- Bible, Genesis ix. 13
- The U-shaped piece which goes around the neck of an ox and fastens it to the yoke.
- Either of the arms of a pair of spectacles, running from the side of the lens to behind the wearer's ear.
- 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.
- (nautical) A crude sort of quadrant formerly used for taking the sun's altitude at sea.
- (saddlery) Two pieces of wood which form the arched forward part of a saddletree.
- The part of a key that is not inserted into the lock and that is used to turn the key.
- cot en
- (bow-shaped bend) arc, bend, curve
- (tool for playing stringed instruments) fiddlestick
- (a type of stringed instrument) musical bow
bow (bows, present participle bowing; past and past participle bowed)
- To play music on (a stringed) instrument using a bow.
- The musician bowed his violin expertly.
- (intransitive) To become bent or curved.
- The shelf bowed under the weight of the books.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), imprinted at London: By Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981 ↗, Psalms 62:3 ↗:
- 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.
- (transitive) To make something bend or curve.
- 1644, J[ohn] M[ilton], chapter I, in The Doctrine or Discipline of Divorce: […] in Two Books: […], 2nd edition, London: [s.n.], OCLC 868004604 ↗, book II, page 32 ↗:
- {...}} as when we bow things the contrary way, to make them come to their naturall ſtraitneſſe.
- The whole nation bowed their necks to the worst kind of tyranny.
- (transitive, figurative) To exercise powerful or controlling influence over; to bend, figuratively; to turn; to incline.
- 1625, Francis Bacon, Of Atheism
- Adversities do more bow men's minds to religion.
- not to bow and bias their opinions
- 1625, Francis Bacon, Of Atheism
- (intransitive) To premiere.
- Cronenberg’s "Cosmopolis" bows in Cannes this week.
- German: streichen
- Portuguese: tocar (com arco)
- French: fléchir, courber
- German: biegen, verbiegen
- Italian: curvarsi, piegarsi, incurvarsi
- Portuguese: curvar, arquear
- Russian: гну́ться
- Spanish: arquear, curvar
- French: courber
- German: biegen, verbiegen, beugen
- Italian: curvare, piegare, incurvare
- Portuguese: curvar, arquear
- Russian: гнуть
- Spanish: doblar
bow (bows, present participle bowing; past and past participle bowed)
- (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."
- That singer always bows towards her audience for some reason.
- 1900, L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
- (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.
- 2010 (publication date), Kara Krekeler, "Rebuilding the opera house", West End Word, volume 39, number 26, December 22, 2010 – January 11, 2011, page 1:
- (intransitive) To defer (to something).
- I bow to your better judgement in the matter.
- (transitive) To give a direction, indication, or command to by bowing.
- French: s'incliner, faire une révérence
- German: verbeugen, ein, verneigen
- Italian: inchinarsi, fare la riverenza
- Portuguese: curvar-se
- Russian: кла́няться
- Spanish: doblar, inclinar
bow (plural bows)
- 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.
- French: révérence
- German: Verbeugung
- Italian: inchino
- Portuguese: reverência
- Russian: покло́н
- Spanish: reverencia
bow (plural bows)
- (nautical) The front of a boat or ship.
- (rowing) The rower that sits in the seat closest to the bow of the boat.
- (of a ship) prow
bow (plural bows)
- (obsolete) Alternative spelling of bough
- 1610–1611, William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act V, scene i], page 17 ↗:
Bow
Pronunciation
- (UK (places)) IPA: /bəʊ/
- Surname
- A suburb in eastern London.
- A village in Devon, England.
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