Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Sow?

\Sow\, v. i. To sew. See {Sew}. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
\Sow\, n. [OE. sowe, suwe, AS. sugu, akin to s[=u], D. zog, zeug, OHG. s[=u], G. sau, Icel. s[=y]r, Dan. so, Sw. sugga, so, L. sus. Gr. "y^s, sy^s, Zend. hu boar; probably from the root seen in Skr. s[=u] to beget, to bear; the animal being named in allusion to its fecundity. [root]294. Cf. {Hyena}, {Soil} to stain, {Son}, {Swine}.] 1. (Zo["o]l.) The female of swine, or of the hog kind. 2. (Zo["o]l.) A sow bug. 3. (Metal.) (a) A channel or runner which receives the rows of molds in the pig bed. (b) The bar of metal which remains in such a runner. (c) A mass of solidified metal in a furnace hearth; a salamander. 4. (Mil.) A kind of covered shed, formerly used by besiegers in filling up and passing the ditch of a besieged place, sapping and mining the wall, or the like. --Craig. {Sow bread}. (Bot.) See {Cyclamen}. {Sow bug}, or {Sowbug} (Zo["o]l.), any one of numerous species of terrestrial Isopoda belonging to {Oniscus}, {Porcellio}, and allied genera of the family {Oniscid[ae]}. They feed chiefly on decaying vegetable substances. {Sow thistle} [AS. sugepistel] (Bot.), a composite plant ({Sonchus oleraceus}) said to be eaten by swine and some other animals.
\Sow\, v. t. [imp. {Sowed}; p. p. {Sown}or {Sowed}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Sowing}.] [OE. sowen, sawen, AS. s[=a]wan; akin to OFries. s?a, D. zaaijen, OS. & HG. s[=a]jan, G. s["a]en, Icel. s[=a], Sw. s[*a], Dan. saae, Goth. saian, Lith. s[=e]ti, Russ. sieiate, L. serere, sevi. Cf. {Saturday}, {Season}, {Seed}, {Seminary}.] 1. To scatter, as seed, upon the earth; to plant by strewing; as, to sow wheat. Also used figuratively: To spread abroad; to propagate. ``He would sow some difficulty.'' --Chaucer. A sower went forth to sow; and when he sowed, some seeds fell by the wayside. --Matt. xiii. 3, 4. And sow dissension in the hearts of brothers. --Addison. 2. To scatter seed upon, in, or over; to supply or stock, as land, with seeds. Also used figuratively: To scatter over; to besprinkle. The intellectual faculty is a goodly field, . . . and it is the worst husbandry in the world to sow it with trifles. --Sir M. Hale. [He] sowed with stars the heaven. --Milton. Now morn . . . sowed the earth with orient pearl. --Milton.
\Sow\, v. i. To scatter seed for growth and the production of a crop; -- literally or figuratively. They that sow in tears shall reap in joi. --Ps. cxxvi. 5.