Strew vs Sow - What's the difference?
strew | sow |
To distribute objects or pieces of something over an area, especially in a random manner.
* , Romeo and Juliet , act 5, sc. 3:
* Dryden
* Beaconsfield
To cover, or lie upon, by having been scattered.
* Spenser
* Alexander Pope
To spread abroad; to disseminate.
* Shakespeare
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:
(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.
To scatter, disperse, or plant (seeds).
(figurative) To spread abroad; to propagate.
* Addison
(figurative) To scatter over; to besprinkle.
* Sir M. Hale
* Milton
In transitive terms the difference between strew and sow
is that strew is to spread abroad; to disseminate while sow is to scatter, disperse, or plant (seeds).As verbs the difference between strew and sow
is that strew is to distribute objects or pieces of something over an area, especially in a random manner while sow is to scatter, disperse, or plant (seeds).As a noun sow is
a female pig.strew
English
Alternative forms
* (l) * (l) (dialectal)Verb
- to strew sand over a floor
- Sweet flower, with flowers thy bridal bed I strew .
- And strewed his mangled limbs about the field.
- On a principal table a desk was open and many papers strewn about.
- Leaves strewed the ground.
- The snow which does the top of Pindus strew .
- Is thine alone the seed that strews the plain?
- She may strew dangerous conjectures.
Synonyms
* scatter, sprinkleDerived terms
* strewments * strewnfieldAnagrams
* English irregular verbssow
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) sowe, from (etyl) sugu, from (etyl) (ae)). See also swine .Noun
(en-noun)- 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.
- (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, cowDerived terms
* make a silk purse of a sow's earSee also
* boar * hog * pigEtymology 2
From (etyl) sowen, from (etyl) .Verb
- When I had sown the field, the day's work was over.
- As you sow , so shall you reap.
- And sow dissension in the hearts of brothers.
- The intellectual faculty is a goodly field, and it is the worst husbandry in the world to sow it with trifles.
- [He] sowed with stars the heaven.
