mow1

[moh] /moʊ/
verb (used with object), mowed, mowed or mown, mowing.
1.
to cut down (grass, grain, etc.) with a scythe or a machine.
2.
to cut grass, grain, etc., from:
to mow the lawn.
verb (used without object), mowed, mowed or mown, mowing.
3.
to cut down grass, grain, etc.
Verb phrases
4.
mow down,
  1. to destroy or kill indiscriminately or in great numbers, as troops in battle.
  2. to defeat, overwhelm, or overcome:
    The team mowed down its first four opponents.
  3. to knock down.
Origin
before 900; Middle English mowen, Old English māwan; cognate with German mähen
British Dictionary definitions for mow down

mow down

verb
1.
(transitive, adverb) to kill in large numbers, esp by gunfire

mow1

/məʊ/
verb mows, mowing, mowed, mowed, mown
1.
to cut down (grass, crops, etc) with a hand implement or machine
2.
(transitive) to cut the growing vegetation of (a field, lawn, etc)
Derived Forms
mower, noun
Word Origin
Old English māwan; related to Old High German māen, Middle Dutch maeyen to mow, Latin metere to reap, Welsh medi

mow2

/maʊ/
noun
1.
the part of a barn where hay, straw, etc, is stored
2.
the hay, straw, etc, stored
Word Origin
Old English mūwa; compare Old Norse mūgr heap, Greek mukōn

mow3

/maʊ/
noun, verb
1.
an archaic word for grimace
Word Origin
C14: from Old French moe a pout, or Middle Dutch mouwe
Word Origin and History for mow down

mow

v.

Old English mawan "to mow" (class VII strong verb; past tense meow, past participle mawen), from Proto-Germanic *mæanan (cf. Middle Low German maeyen, Dutch maaien, Old High German maen, German mähen "to mow," Old English mæd "meadow"), from PIE root *me- "to mow, to cut down grass or grain with a sickle or scythe" (cf. poetic Greek amao, Latin metere "to reap, mow, crop," Italian mietere, Old Irish meithleorai "reapers," Welsh medi). Related: Mowed; mown; mowing.

n.

"stack of hay," Old English muga, muwa "a heap, swath of corn, crowd of people," earlier muha, from Proto-Germanic *mugon (cf. Old Norse mugr "a heap," mostr "crowd"), of uncertain origin.

Related Abbreviations for mow down

MOW

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Idioms and Phrases with mow down

mow down

.
Destroy in great numbers, especially in battle, as in The machine gun mowed them down as they advanced. [ Late 1500s ]
.
Overwhelm, as in He mowed down the opposition with his arguments. This usage, like the first, alludes to mowing, the cutting of grass with a scythe or other implement.