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Mow vs Sow - What's the difference?

mow | sow |

As verbs the difference between mow and sow

is that mow is while sow is to scatter, disperse, or plant (seeds).

As a noun sow is

a female pig.

mow

English

Etymology 1

(etyl) mowen (participle mowen), from (etyl) )

Verb

  • To cut something (especially grass or crops) down or knock down.
    • He mowed the lawn .
    Derived terms
    * mow down

    Etymology 2

    (etyl) (m), from (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • *, Folio Society, 2006, vol.1, p.212:
  • *:Those that paint them dyingdelineate the prisoners spitting in their executioners faces, and making mowes at them.
  • * Shakespeare
    • Make mows at him.

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To make grimaces, mock.
  • * 1610 , , act 2 scene 2
    • For every trifle are they set upon me: / Sometime like apes that mow and chatter at me, / And after bite me;
  • * Tyndale
    • Nodding, becking, and mowing .

    Etymology 3

    (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A stack of hay, corn, beans or a barn for the storage of hay, corn, beans.
  • The place in a barn where hay or grain in the sheaf is stowed.

    • Verb

    (en verb)
  • (agriculture) To put into mows.

    • Etymology 4

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (a seagull)
    • (Webster 1913)

    See also

    *

    Anagrams

    * English terms with multiple etymologies

    sow

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) sowe, from (etyl) sugu, from (etyl) (ae)). See also swine .

    Noun

    (en-noun)
  • A female pig.
  • A channel that conducts molten metal to molds.
  • A mass of metal solidified in a mold.
  • * 1957 , H.R. Schubert, History of the British Iron and Steel Industry , p. 160:
    • In England, it was generally termed a 'sow' , if the weight was above 10 cwts., if below, it was termed a 'pig' from which the present term 'pig iron' is derived.
  • (derogatory, slang) A contemptible, often fat woman.
  • A sowbug.
  • (military) 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, etc.
    • (Craig)
    Usage notes
    The plural form swine is now obsolete in this sense.
    Synonyms
    * (mass of metal solidified in a mold) ingot * (contemptible woman) bitch, cow
    Derived terms
    * make a silk purse of a sow's ear

    See also

    * boar * hog * pig

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) sowen, from (etyl) .

    Verb

  • To scatter, disperse, or plant (seeds).
    • When I had sown the field, the day's work was over.
    As you sow , so shall you reap.
  • (figurative) To spread abroad; to propagate.
  • * Addison
    • And sow dissension in the hearts of brothers.
  • (figurative) To scatter over; to besprinkle.
  • * Sir M. Hale
    • The intellectual faculty is a goodly field, and it is the worst husbandry in the world to sow it with trifles.
  • * Milton
    • [He] sowed with stars the heaven.
    Synonyms
    * plant, scatter
    Derived terms
    * reap what one sows *

    Anagrams

    * English heteronyms English irregular verbs English terms with multiple etymologies