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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

mow.

To cut down grass or crops.

3 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

verb/ˈməʊ/Received-Pronunciation/ˈmoʊ/General-American/ˈməʉ/Australia/ˈmɐʉ/New-Zealand
  1. To cut down grass or crops.

    transitive
    He mowed the lawn every few weeks in the summer.
  2. To cut down or slaughter in great numbers.

    often · transitive
Where this word comes from

From Middle English mowen (participle mowen), from Old English māwan (past tense mēow, past participle māwen), from Proto-West Germanic *māan, from Proto-Germanic *mēaną, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂meh₁- (“to mow, reap”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian mjo (“to mow”), Dutch maaien (“to mow”), German mähen (“to mow”), Luxembourgish méien (“to mow”), Danish meje (“to mow”), Swedish meja (“to mow”); see also Hittite [script needed] (ḫamešḫa, “spring/early summer”, literally “mowing time”), Latin metō (“to harvest, mow”), Ancient Greek ἀμάω (amáō, “to mow”).

noun/ˈməʊ/Received-Pronunciation/ˈmoʊ/General-American/ˈməʉ/Australia/ˈmɐʉ/New-Zealand
  1. The act of mowing (a garden, grass, etc.).

    The lawn hasn't had a mow for a couple of months, so it's like a jungle out there!
  2. A shot played with a sweeping or scythe-like motion.

Where this word comes from

From Middle English mowen (participle mowen), from Old English māwan (past tense mēow, past participle māwen), from Proto-West Germanic *māan, from Proto-Germanic *mēaną, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂meh₁- (“to mow, reap”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian mjo (“to mow”), Dutch maaien (“to mow”), German mähen (“to mow”), Luxembourgish méien (“to mow”), Danish meje (“to mow”), Swedish meja (“to mow”); see also Hittite [script needed] (ḫamešḫa, “spring/early summer”, literally “mowing time”), Latin metō (“to harvest, mow”), Ancient Greek ἀμάω (amáō, “to mow”).

noun/məʊ/UK/moʊ/US
  1. A scornful grimace; a wry face.

    dialectal
Where this word comes from

From Middle English mowe, from Old French moe (“grimace”), from Frankish *mauwa (“pout, protruding lip”), from Proto-Germanic *mawwō (“muff, sleeve”). Akin to Middle Dutch mouwe (“protruding lip”). Doublet of moue ("pout").

verb/məʊ/UK/moʊ/US
  1. To make grimaces, mock.

Where this word comes from

From Middle English mowe, from Old French moe (“grimace”), from Frankish *mauwa (“pout, protruding lip”), from Proto-Germanic *mawwō (“muff, sleeve”). Akin to Middle Dutch mouwe (“protruding lip”). Doublet of moue ("pout").

noun/maʊ̯/
  1. A stack of hay, corn, beans or a barn for the storage of hay, corn, beans.

    regional
  2. The place in a barn where hay or grain in the sheaf is stowed.

Where this word comes from

From Middle English mowe, form Old English mūga, mūha, from Proto-West Germanic *mūgō, *mūhō, from Proto-Germanic *mūgô, *mūhō; perhaps connected to Ancient Greek μύκων (múkōn, “heap”). Cognate with Norwegian muge (“heap, crowd, flock”).

verb/maʊ̯/
  1. To put into mows.

Where this word comes from

From Middle English mowe, form Old English mūga, mūha, from Proto-West Germanic *mūgō, *mūhō, from Proto-Germanic *mūgô, *mūhō; perhaps connected to Ancient Greek μύκων (múkōn, “heap”). Cognate with Norwegian muge (“heap, crowd, flock”).

noun
  1. Alternative form of mew (a seagull)

    alt-of · alternative · obsolete
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.