plow

[plou] /plaʊ/
noun
1.
an agricultural implement used for cutting, lifting, turning over, and partly pulverizing soil.
2.
any of various implements resembling or suggesting this, as a kind of plane for cutting grooves or a contrivance for clearing away snow from a road or track.
3.
Type Founding. (formerly) an instrument for cutting the groove in the foot of type.
4.
Bookbinding. a device for trimming the edges of the leaves by hand.
5.
(initial capital letter) Astronomy.
  1. the constellation Ursa Major.
  2. the Big Dipper.
verb (used with object)
6.
to turn up (soil) with a plow.
7.
to make (a furrow) with a plow.
8.
to tear up, cut into, or make a furrow, groove, etc. in (a surface) with or as if with a plow (often followed by up):
The tractor plowed up an acre of trees.
9.
to clear by the use of a plow, especially a snowplow (sometimes followed by out):
The city's work crews were busily plowing the streets after the blizzard.
10.
to invest, as capital (often followed by into):
to plow several hundred million into developing new oil fields.
11.
to reinvest or reutilize (usually followed by back):
to plow profits back into new plants and equipment.
12.
  1. to cleave the surface of (the water):
    beavers plowing the pond.
  2. to make (a way) or follow (a course) in this manner:
    The yacht plowed an easterly course through the choppy Atlantic.
13.
Slang: Vulgar. to have sexual intercourse with.
verb (used without object)
14.
to till the soil or work with a plow.
15.
to take plowing in a specified way:
land that plows easily.
16.
to move forcefully through something in the manner of a plow (often followed by through, into, along, etc.):
The cop plowed through the crowd, chasing after the thief. The car plowed into our house.
17.
to proceed in a slow, laborious, and steady manner (often followed by through):
The researcher plowed through a pile of reports.
18.
to move through water by cleaving the surface:
a ship plowing through a turbulent sea.
Verb phrases
19.
plow under,
  1. to bury under soil by plowing.
  2. to cause to disappear; force out of existence; overwhelm:
    Many mom-and-pop groceries have been plowed under by the big chain stores.
Also, especially British, plough.
Origin
before 1100; Middle English plouh, plugh(e), plough(e), Old English plōh; cognate with German Pflug plow
Related forms
plowable, adjective
plowability, noun
plower, noun
overplow, verb
replow, verb (used with object), replowed, replowing.
subplow, noun
subplow, verb
unplowable, adjective
unplowed, adjective
well-plowed, adjective
Examples from the web for plow
  • But he struggled to plow through all the questions on the big test.
  • Nearby, bulldozers plow acres of sod into an ever-rising mound.
  • What wheels can't do is climb rocky hillsides or plow through waist-deep mud.
  • We've been debating whether it would be a good investment vs hiring the neighbor to plow.
  • Basically, the productive land around the world is already under the plow.
  • Dangling carrots may be useful in getting people to plow through boring, routine work.
  • We plow down stable communities of hundreds of species of plants to get single-row crops.
  • Yes, you can find an author here and there, but you have to plow through more and more non-book stuff to get there.
  • We could all go back to cutting down forests for our energy and farming with plow horses.
  • Critters big and small trample, crush, and plow rocks as they scurry across the surface and burrow underground.
British Dictionary definitions for plow

plough

/plaʊ/
noun
1.
an agricultural implement with sharp blades, attached to a horse, tractor, etc, for cutting or turning over the earth
2.
any of various similar implements, such as a device for clearing snow
3.
a plane with a narrow blade for cutting grooves in wood
4.
(in agriculture) ploughed land
5.
put one's hand to the plough, to begin or undertake a task
verb
6.
to till (the soil) with a plough
7.
to make (furrows or grooves) in (something) with or as if with a plough
8.
when intr, usually foll by through. to move (through something) in the manner of a plough: the ship ploughed the water
9.
(intransitive) foll by through. to work at slowly or perseveringly
10.
(intransitive; foll by into or through) (of a vehicle) to run uncontrollably into something in its path: the plane ploughed into the cottage roof
11.
(transitive; foll by in, up, under, etc) to turn over (a growing crop, manure, etc) into the earth with a plough
12.
(intransitive) (Brit, slang) to fail an examination
Derived Forms
plougher, especially (US) plower, noun
Word Origin
Old English plōg plough land; related to Old Norse plogr, Old High German pfluoc

plow

/plaʊ/
noun, verb
1.
the usual US spelling of plough
Derived Forms
plower, noun
Word Origin and History for plow
n.

late Old English plog, ploh "plow; plowland" (a measure of land equal to what a yoke of oxen could plow in a day), possibly from a Scandinavian source (cf. Old Norse plogr "plow," Swedish and Danish plog), from Proto-Germanic *plogo- (cf. Old Saxon plog, Old Frisian ploch "plow," Middle Low German ploch, Middle Dutch ploech, Dutch ploeg, Old High German pfluog, German Pflug), a late word in Germanic, of uncertain origin. Old Church Slavonic plugu, Lithuanian plugas "plow" are Germanic loan-words, as probably is Latin plovus, plovum "plow," a word said by Pliny to be of Rhaetian origin.

Replaced Old English sulh, cognate with Latin sulcus "furrow." As a name for the star pattern also known as the Big Dipper or Charles's Wain, it is attested by early 15c., perhaps early 14c. The three "handle" stars (in the Dipper configuration) generally are seen as the team of oxen pulling the plow, though sometimes they are the handle.

v.

late 14c., from plow (n.). Transferred sense from 1580s. Related: Plowed; plowing.

Slang definitions & phrases for plow

plow

verb

To do the sex act with or to a woman; screw (1606+ and probably before)