mow

views updated May 21 2018

mow¹ / mō/ • 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.

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English

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.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology T. F. HOAD

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.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology T. F. HOAD

MOW

views updated May 29 2018

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

The Oxford Dictionary of Abbreviations FRAN ALEXANDER , PETER BLAIR , JOHN DAINTITH , ALICE GRANDISON , VALERIE ILLINGWORTH , ELIZABETH MARTIN , ANNE STIBBS , JUDY PEARSALL , and SARA TULLOCH