Free translatorFree translator
Synonyms, antonyms, pronunciation

  Home 		English Dictionary      examples: 'day', 'get rid of', 'New York Bay'




Bow   /baʊ/  /boʊ/   Listen
noun
Bow  n.  An inclination of the head, or a bending of the body, in token of reverence, respect, civility, or submission; an obeisance; as, a bow of deep humility.


Bow  n.  
1.
Anything bent, or in the form of a curve, as the rainbow. "I do set my bow in the cloud."
2.
A weapon made of a strip of wood, or other elastic material, with a cord connecting the two ends, by means of which an arrow is propelled.
3.
An ornamental knot, with projecting loops, formed by doubling a ribbon or string.
4.
The U-shaped piece which embraces the neck of an ox and fastens it to the yoke.
5.
(Mus.) An appliance consisting of an elastic rod, with a number of horse hairs stretched from end to end of it, used in playing on a stringed instrument.
6.
An arcograph.
7.
(Mech. & Manuf.) 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 the hair, fur, etc., used by hatters.
8.
(Naut.) A rude sort of quadrant formerly used for taking the sun's altitude at sea.
9.
(Saddlery) sing. or pl. Two pieces of wood which form the arched forward part of a saddletree.
Bow bearer (O. Eng. Law), an under officer of the forest who looked after trespassers.
Bow drill, a drill worked by a bow and string.
Bow instrument (Mus.), any stringed instrument from which the tones are produced by the bow.
Bow window (Arch.) See Bay window.
To draw a long bow, to lie; to exaggerate. (Colloq.)


Bow  n.  
1.
(Naut.) The bending or rounded part of a ship forward; the stream or prow.
2.
(Naut.) One who rows in the forward part of a boat; the bow oar.
Bow chaser (Naut.), a gun in the bow for firing while chasing another vessel.
Bow piece, a piece of ordnance carried at the bow of a ship.
On the bow (Naut.), on that part of the horizon within 45° on either side of the line ahead.


verb
Bow  v. t.  (past & past part. bowed; pres. part. bowing)  
1.
To cause to deviate from straightness; to bend; to inflect; to make crooked or curved. "We bow things the contrary way, to make them come to their natural straightness." "The whole nation bowed their necks to the worst kind of tyranny."
2.
To exercise powerful or controlling influence over; to bend, figuratively; to turn; to incline. "Adversities do more bow men's minds to religion." "Not to bow and bias their opinions."
3.
To bend or incline, as the head or body, in token of respect, gratitude, assent, homage, or condescension. "They came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him."
4.
To cause to bend down; to prostrate; to depress; to crush; to subdue. "Whose heavy hand hath bowed you to the grave."
5.
To express by bowing; as, to bow one's thanks.


Bow  v. i.  
1.
To bend; to curve. (Obs.)
2.
To stop. (Archaic) "They stoop, they bow down together."
3.
To bend the head, knee, or body, in token of reverence or submission; often with down. "O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker."
4.
To incline the head in token of salutation, civility, or assent; to make bow. "Admired, adored by all circling crowd, For wheresoe'er she turned her face, they bowed."


Bow  v. i.  (past & past part. bowed; pres. part. bowing)  
1.
To play (music) with a bow.
2.
To manage the bow.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


Advanced search
     Find words:
Starting with
Ending with
Containing
Matching a pattern  

Synonyms
Antonyms
Quotes
Words linked to  

only single words


Share |




"Bow" Quotes from Famous Books



... makes a beautiful curtain of verdure. There are villas dotted about everywhere, of every possible style; Norman chalets, white and gray, with the black crossbeams that one is so familiar with all over this part of the country; English cottages with verandas and bow-windows; three or four rather pretentious looking buildings with high perrons and one or two terraces; gardens with no very pretty flowers, principally red geraniums, some standing back in a nice little green wood, some directly on the road with benches along ...
— Chateau and Country Life in France • Mary King Waddington
... was moored a little way down the beach. But from the first the search was useless. Only Jacob, who was a person afflicted with many superstitions, wiped the sweat from his forehead as he leaned over the bow of his boat and looked down into ...
— The Vanished Messenger • E. Phillips Oppenheim
... door opened again, and in tramped a dozen grand-looking officers in splendid uniforms, the foremost of whom, making a low bow to the shabby soldier, said, very respectfully, "All is ready, ...
— Harper's Young People, August 10, 1880 - An Illustrated Weekly • Various
... story, but wander where we will about the world we can never go beyond the sound of the passing bell. For me, as for my father before me, and for the millions who have been and who shall be, there is but one word of comfort. "The Lord hath given, and the Lord hath taken away." Let us, then, bow our heads in hope, and add with a humble heart, "Blessed be the name ...
— Allan's Wife • H. Rider Haggard
... white cloth, the finest of Cairo, Suez, and Alexandria; a vessel of agate, more broad than deep, an inch thick, and half a foot wide, the bottom of which represented in bas-relief a man with one knee on the ground, who held a bow and an arrow, ready to discharge at a lion. He sent him also a rich tablet, which, according to tradition, belonged to the ...
— The Junior Classics, V5 • Edited by William Patten


More quotes...


Copyright © 2024 Free Translator.org