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Sow vs Dig - What's the difference?

sow | dig |

As nouns the difference between sow and dig

is that sow is a female pig while dig is ditch, dyke.

As a verb sow

is to scatter, disperse, or plant (seeds).

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 *

    dig

    English

    (wikipedia dig)

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) , from (etyl) (m), itself a borrowing of the same Germanic root (from (etyl) (m)). More at ditch, dike.

    Verb

  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=8 , passage=Miss Thorn began digging up the turf with her lofter: it was a painful moment for me. ¶ “You might at least have tried me, Mrs. Cooke,” I said.}}
  • (label) To get by digging; to take from the ground; often with up .
  • (label) To take ore from its bed, in distinction from making excavations in search of ore.
  • To work like a digger; to study ploddingly and laboriously.
  • (label) To investigate, to research, often followed by out'' or ''up .
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=September-October, author=(Henry Petroski)
  • , magazine=(American Scientist), title= The Evolution of Eyeglasses , passage=Digging deeper, the invention of eyeglasses is an elaboration of the more fundamental development of optics technology. The ability of a segment of a glass sphere to magnify whatever is placed before it was known around the year 1000, when the spherical segment was called a reading stone, essentially what today we might term a frameless magnifying glass or plain glass paperweight.}}
  • To thrust; to poke.
  • * Robynson (More's Utopia)
  • You should have seen children dig and push their mothers under the sides, saying thus to them: Look, mother, how great a lubber doth yet wear pearls.
    Derived terms
    * dig in * dig into * dig over * dig out * dig up

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An archeological investigation.
  • (US, colloquial, dated) A plodding and laborious student.
  • A thrust; a poke.
  • He guffawed and gave me a dig in the ribs after telling his latest joke.
  • Synonyms
    * (archaeological investigation) excavation

    Etymology 2

    From (African American Vernacular English); due to lack of writing of slave speech, etymology is .Random House Unabridged, 2001 Others do not propose a distinct etymology, instead considering this a semantic shift of the existing English term (compare dig in/dig into'').eg: OED, "dig", from ME vt ''diggen

    Verb

  • (slang) To understand or show interest in.
  • You dig ?
  • (slang) To appreciate, or like.
  • Baby, I dig you.

    References