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Sprinkle vs Sow - What's the difference?

sprinkle | sow |

As verbs the difference between sprinkle and sow

is that sprinkle is (lb) to cause (a substance) to fall in fine drops (for a liquid substance) or small pieces (for a solid substance) while sow is to scatter, disperse, or plant (seeds).

As nouns the difference between sprinkle and sow

is that sprinkle is a light covering with a sprinkled substance while sow is a female pig.

sprinkle

English

Verb

(sprinkl)
  • (lb) To cause (a substance) to fall in fine drops (for a liquid substance) or small pieces (for a solid substance).
  • :
  • *(Bible), (w) xiv. 16
  • *:And the priest shallsprinkle of the oil with his finger seven times before the Lord.
  • *
  • *:At twilight in the summeron the floor.
  • (lb) To cover (an object) by sprinkling a substance on to it.
  • :
  • *2005 , Justus Roux, Who's Your Daddy? , page 66:
  • *:Most of the passengers watched from the enclosed promenade deck, but Sandra found her way to the higher, open promenade where she shivered and watched the city lights fade and the stars sprinkle themselves across a dark blue velvet sky.
  • (lb) To drip in fine drops, sometimes sporadically.
  • :
  • (lb) To baptize by the application of a few drops, or a small quantity, of water; hence, to cleanse; to purify.
  • *(Bible), (w) x. 22
  • *:having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience

    • Quotations

    * 1893 , Edward F. Bigelow (editor and publisher), The Observer: a Medium of Interchange of Observations for all Students and Lovers of Nature , volume IV, number 4, page 114: *: There is no more beautiful object in the still and shady aisles of the wood than a great patch of the deep green hairy cap moss studded and starred by these little roses that are often scattered over it as thickly as the stars sprinkle the sky. * April 26th, 1899', ''Memorial Day Oration'' of General P. McGlashan, printed in '''1902 in ''Addresses delivered before the Confederate Veterans Association of Savannah by that association: *: As I laid him back on the litter he threw out his arms and clasped me around my neck, drew me towards him and kissed me, saying: "Colonel, I love you." [...] Unnumbered instances like this might be recounted did the time permit it. They sprinkle the whole four years as the stars sprinkle the sky. * 2010 , Donald E. MacKay, Love Is Stronger Than Death , page 91: *: [...] she will remember his words and gaze at the stars. One dark night when the stars sprinkle the heavens, she would call out to the stars and ask the same questions her benefactor had asked; perhaps she will be favored with answers.

    Derived terms

    * sprinkler

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A light covering with a sprinkled substance.
    • He decorated the Christmas card with a sprinkle of glitter.
  • A light rain shower.

    • Synonyms

    * (light covering with a sprinkled substance) sprinkling

    Derived terms

    * sugar sprinkles

    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