SOW (sown)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: sown   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does sow mean? 

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

1. an adult female hog

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

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

1. place (seeds) in or on the ground for future growth

2. introduce into an environment

3. place seeds in or on (the ground)

  Familiarity information: SOW used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SOW (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An adult female hog

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

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

swine (stout-bodied short-legged omnivorous animals)

• SOW (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they sow    ... he / she / it sows   
Past simple: sowed   
Past participle: sowed    / sown   
-ing form: sowing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Place (seeds) in or on the ground for future growth

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

seed; sow

Context example:

She sowed sunflower seeds

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

lay; place; pose; position; put; set (put into a certain place or abstract location)

Verb group:

inseminate; sow; sow in (place seeds in or on (the ground))

Domain category:

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

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

broadcast (sow over a wide area, especially by hand)

inseminate; sow; sow in (place seeds in or on (the ground))

scatter (sow by scattering)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

They sow rye in the field

Derivation:

sower (someone who sows)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Introduce into an environment

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Context example:

sow suspicion or beliefs

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

broadcast; circularise; circularize; circulate; diffuse; disperse; disseminate; distribute; pass around; propagate; spread (cause to become widely known)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

sower (someone who sows)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Place seeds in or on (the ground)

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

inseminate; sow; sow in

Context example:

sow the ground with sunflower seeds

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

seed; sow (place (seeds) in or on the ground for future growth)

Verb group:

seed; sow (place (seeds) in or on the ground for future growth)

Domain category:

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

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

They sow the field with rye

Derivation:

sower (someone who sows)

 Context examples 

I have sown my corn, and Nature has her work to do in making it sprout; if he sprout at all, there's some promise; and I wait till the ear begins to swell.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

What I reaped, I had sown.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

The poor man thought he would try to better himself; so, pulling off his red coat, he became a gardener, and dug his ground well, and sowed turnips.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

India, a predominantly agricultural country, has some 60 per cent of its total sown area under rainfed farming, making scientific forecasts of rainfall patterns vital to the country’s economy.

(Cave stalagmites reveal India’s rainfall secrets, SciDev.Net)

They came of generations of poor unlettered people—peasants of the sea who sowed their sons on the waves as has been their custom since time began.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Very likely some Mrs. Grundy will observe, "I don't believe it, boys will be boys, young men must sow their wild oats, and women must not expect miracles."

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

It had lain fallow all his life so far as the abstract thought of the books was concerned, and it was ripe for the sowing.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

There were the broad outer and inner bailies, not paved, but sown with grass to nourish the sheep and cattle which might be driven in on sign of danger.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

In Sierra Nevada, water is sown and harvested by means of the so-called acequias (irrigation channels) de careo.

(Researchers demonstrate that Sierra Nevada is home to the oldest underground water recharge system in Europe, University of Granada)

Some, including crayfishes, live in freshwater habitats; others (e.g., sand fleas, land crabs, and sow bugs) live in moist terrestrial environments.

(Crustacean, NCI Thesaurus)