Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Plow?

\Plow\, Plough \Plough\ (plou), n. [OE. plouh, plou, AS. pl[=o]h; akin to D. ploeg, G. pflug, OHG. pfluog, pfluoh, Icel. pl[=o]gr, Sw. plog, Dan. ploug, plov, Russ. plug', Lith. plugas.] 1. A well-known implement, drawn by horses, mules, oxen, or other power, for turning up the soil to prepare it for bearing crops; also used to furrow or break up the soil for other purposes; as, the subsoil plow; the draining plow. Where fern succeeds ungrateful to the plow. --Dryden. 2. Fig.: Agriculture; husbandry. --Johnson. 3. A carucate of land; a plowland. [Obs.] [Eng.] Johan, mine eldest son, shall have plowes five. --Tale of Gamelyn. 4. A joiner's plane for making grooves; a grooving plane. 5. (Bookbinding) An implement for trimming or shaving off the edges of books. 6. (Astron.) Same as {Charles's Wain}. {Ice plow}, a plow used for cutting ice on rivers, ponds, etc., into cakes suitable for storing. [U. S.] {Mackerel plow}. See under {Mackerel}. {Plow alms}, a penny formerly paid by every plowland to the church. --Cowell. {Plow beam}, that part of the frame of a plow to which the draught is applied. See {Beam}, n., 9. {Plow Monday}, the Monday after Twelth Day, or the end of Christmas holidays. {Plow staff}. (a) A kind of long-handled spade or paddle for cleaning the plowshare; a paddle staff. (b) A plow handle. {Snow plow}, a structure, usually [Lambda]-shaped, for removing snow from sidewalks, railroads, etc., -- drawn or driven by a horse or a locomotive.
\Plow\, Plough \Plough\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Plowed} (ploud) or {Ploughed}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Plowing} or {Ploughing}.] 1. To turn up, break up, or trench, with a plow; to till with, or as with, a plow; as, to plow the ground; to plow a field. 2. To furrow; to make furrows, grooves, or ridges in; to run through, as in sailing. Let patient Octavia plow thy visage up With her prepared nails. --Shak. With speed we plow the watery way. --Pope. 3. (Bookbinding) To trim, or shave off the edges of, as a book or paper, with a plow. See {Plow}, n., 5. 4. (Joinery) To cut a groove in, as in a plank, or the edge of a board; especially, a rectangular groove to receive the end of a shelf or tread, the edge of a panel, a tongue, etc. {To plow in}, to cover by plowing; as, to plow in wheat. {To plow up}, to turn out of the ground by plowing.
\Plow\, Plough \Plough\ (plou), v. i. To labor with, or as with, a plow; to till or turn up the soil with a plow; to prepare the soil or bed for anything. --Shak. Doth the plowman plow all day to sow ? --Isa. xxviii. 24.