mow

views updated May 21 2018

mow1 / / • v. (past part. mowed or mown / mōn/ ) [tr.] cut down (an area of grass) with a machine: Roger mowed the lawn| [as adj.] (mown) the smell of newly mown grass. ∎ chiefly hist. cut down (grass or a cereal crop) with a scythe or a sickle.PHRASAL VERBS: mow someone down kill someone with a fusillade of bullets or other missiles. ∎  recklessly knock someone down with a car or other vehicle.DERIVATIVES: mow·er n.mow2 / mou/ • n. a stack of hay, grain, or other similar crop: the hay mow. ∎  a place in a barn where such a stack is put.

mow

views updated Jun 11 2018

mow2 cut down (grass, etc.) with scythe or machine. OE. str. vb. māwan; WGmc. vb., in other langs. wk., repr. by MDu. maeien (Du. maaien), OHG. māen (G. mähen); cf. MEADOW.

mow

views updated Jun 11 2018

mow3 (arch., dial.) grimace. XIV (sb.). prob. — OF. moe, (also mod.) moue † mouth, † lip, pouting; otherwise — MDu. mouwe, which may be the source of the OF. word.
Hence vb. XV.

MOW

views updated May 29 2018

MOW (New Zealand) Ministry of Works
• Movement for the Ordination of Women

Mow

views updated Jun 11 2018

Mow

a stack or heap of grain or hay in a barn; a heap or pile.

Examples: mow of earth, 1424; of grain, 1573; of hay, 1539; of peas, 1718; of wheat, 1398.

mow

views updated Jun 11 2018

mow1 stack of hay, corn, etc. OE. mūga, mūha, mūwa, corr. to ON. múgi swath, crowd; of unkn. orig.