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Sow vs Reap - What's the difference?

sow | reap |

As nouns the difference between sow and reap

is that sow is a female pig while reap is a bundle of grain; a handful of grain laid down by the reaper as it is cut.

As verbs the difference between sow and reap

is that sow is to scatter, disperse, or plant (seeds) while reap is to cut with a sickle, scythe, or reaping machine, as grain; to gather, as a harvest, by cutting.

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

    reap

    English

    Verb

  • To cut with a sickle, scythe, or reaping machine, as grain; to gather, as a harvest, by cutting.
  • * Bible, Leviticus
    • When ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field.
  • To gather; to obtain; to receive as a reward or harvest, or as the fruit of labor or of works, in a good or a bad sense.
    • to reap a benefit from exertions
  • * Milton
    • Why do I humble thus myself, and, suing / For peace, reap nothing but repulse and hate?
  • * (Bible) Epistle to the Galatians, ch. 6, v.7
    • For whatever a man is sowing, this he will also reap. Gal.6.7
  • (computer science) To terminate a child process that has previously exited, thereby removing it from the process table.
    • Until a child process is reaped , it may be listed in the process table as a zombie or defunct process.
  • (obsolete) To deprive of the beard; to shave.
    • (Shakespeare)

    Derived terms

    * reaper * reap what one sows *

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A bundle of grain; a handful of grain laid down by the reaper as it is cut.

    • Anagrams

    *