Sow vs Undersow - What's the difference?
sow | undersow |
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
To sow a second crop after a first one (the cover crop) has become established, such that they both develop at the same time
As verbs the difference between sow and undersow
is that sow is to scatter, disperse, or plant (seeds) while undersow is to sow a second crop after a first one (the cover crop) has become established, such that they both develop at the same time.As a noun sow
is a female pig.sow
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.