PLOW

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does plow mean? 

• PLOW (noun)
  The noun PLOW has 1 sense:

1. a farm tool having one or more heavy blades to break the soil and cut a furrow prior to sowing

  Familiarity information: PLOW used as a noun is very rare.

• PLOW (verb)
  The verb PLOW has 3 senses:

1. to break and turn over earth especially with a plow

2. act on verbally or in some form of artistic expression

3. move in a way resembling that of a plow cutting into or going through the soil

  Familiarity information: PLOW used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PLOW (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A farm tool having one or more heavy blades to break the soil and cut a furrow prior to sowing

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

plough; plow

Hypernyms ("plow" is a kind of...):

tool (an implement used in the practice of a vocation)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "plow"):

bull tongue (a heavy plow with a single wide blade; used chiefly in cotton fields)

moldboard plow; mouldboard plough (plow that has a moldboard)

Derivation:

plow (to break and turn over earth especially with a plow)

• PLOW (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they plow    ... he / she / it plows   
Past simple: plowed   
Past participle: plowed   
-ing form: plowing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

To break and turn over earth especially with a plow

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Synonyms:

plough; plow; turn

Context example:

turn the earth in the Spring

Hypernyms (to "plow" is one way to...):

till (work land as by ploughing, harrowing, and manuring, in order to make it ready for cultivation)

"Plow" entails doing...:

cut into; delve; dig; turn over (turn up, loosen, or remove earth)

Domain category:

agriculture; farming; husbandry (the practice of cultivating the land or raising stock)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "plow"):

ridge (plough alternate strips by throwing the furrow onto an unploughed strip)

disk; harrow (draw a harrow over (land))

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

plow (a farm tool having one or more heavy blades to break the soil and cut a furrow prior to sowing)

plower (a man who plows)

plowing (tilling the land with a plow)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Act on verbally or in some form of artistic expression

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

address; cover; deal; handle; plow; treat

Context example:

The new book treats the history of China

Hypernyms (to "plow" is one way to...):

broach; initiate (bring up a topic for discussion)

Verb group:

do by; handle; treat (interact in a certain way)

comprehend; cover; embrace; encompass (include in scope; include as part of something broader; have as one's sphere or territory)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "plow"):

theologise; theologize (treat from a theological viewpoint or render theological in character)

discourse; discuss; talk about (to consider or examine in speech or writing)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Sense 3

Meaning:

Move in a way resembling that of a plow cutting into or going through the soil

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

plough; plow

Context example:

The ship plowed through the water

Hypernyms (to "plow" is one way to...):

go; locomote; move; travel (change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically)

Sentence frames:

Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s PP

 Context examples 

During its plunge, the galaxy plows through intergalactic material, like a boat moving through water.

(Hubble Sees Plunging Galaxy Losing Its Gas, NASA)

It has been linked to active processes on Mars such as carbon dioxide gas geysers and lines on sand dunes plowed by blocks of dry ice.

(NASA spacecraft observes further evidence of dry ice gullies on Mars, NASA)

The sun had baked the plowed land into a gray mass, with little cracks running through it.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

This may be due to the motion of the host star plowing through the interstellar medium, like the bow wave from a boat crossing a lake.

(Hubble Finds Huge System of Dusty Material Enveloping the Young Star HR 4796A, NASA)

The researchers noted the sevengill sharks might not have the same effect on the ecosystems involved as the great whites have had, citing the ecological disruption apparently caused off Alaska when a change in orca behavior had a knock-on effect, disrupting sea otters' predation of sea urchins, whose population then exploded, plowing through the area's kelp forests.

(Study indicates as great white shark disappears, living fossil moves in, Wikinews)