Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun An adult female pig, especially one that has had at least one litter.
  • noun The adult female of several other animals, such as the bear.
  • noun A channel that conducts molten iron to the molds in a pig bed.
  • noun The mass of metal solidified in such a channel or mold.
  • intransitive verb To scatter (seed) over the ground for growing.
  • intransitive verb To scatter seed over (land, for example).
  • intransitive verb To strew something around or over (an area); distribute something over.
  • intransitive verb To propagate; disseminate.
  • intransitive verb To scatter seed for growing.
  • idiom (oats/wild oats) To indulge in sexually promiscuous or dissolute behavior, especially as a young adult.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • An obsolete spelling of sew.
  • noun An adult female hog; the female of swine.
  • noun A sow-bug.
  • noun In metallurgy, the metal which has solidified in the common channel or feeder through which the molten iron flows from the blast-furnace into a series of parallel grooves or furrows, which are the “pigs” appertaining to the sow, and the iron from which bears the name of pigiron, or simply pig: used also of other metals.
  • noun A military engine consisting of a movable roof arranged to protect men handling a battering-ram. Compare vinea, also cat and cat-castle.
  • Female: applied to fish: as, a sow hake. See sow fish, under fish.
  • noun In metallurgy: Same as bear, 7.
  • To scatter, as seed upon the earth, for the purpose of growth; plant by strewing.
  • To scatter seed over for growth; supply or stock with seed.
  • To scatter over; besprinkle; spangle: as, a velvet pall sown with golden bees.
  • To spread abroad; cause to extend; disseminate; propagate: as, to sow discord.
  • To scatter seed for growth and the production of a crop.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To scatter, as seed, upon the earth; to plant by strewing. Also used figuratively: To spread abroad; to propagate.
  • transitive verb To scatter seed upon, in, or over; to supply or stock, as land, with seeds. Also used figuratively: To scatter over; to besprinkle.
  • intransitive verb obsolete To sew. See sew.
  • intransitive verb To scatter seed for growth and the production of a crop; -- literally or figuratively.
  • noun (Zoöl.) The female of swine, or of the hog kind.
  • noun (Zoöl.) A sow bug.
  • noun A channel or runner which receives the rows of molds in the pig bed.
  • noun The bar of metal which remains in such a runner.
  • noun A mass of solidified metal in a furnace hearth; a salamander.
  • noun (Mil.) A kind of covered shed, formerly used by besiegers in filling up and passing the ditch of a besieged place, sapping and mining the wall, or the like.
  • noun (Bot.) See Cyclamen.
  • noun (Zoöl.) any one of numerous species of terrestrial Isopoda belonging to Oniscus, Porcellio, and allied genera of the family Oniscidæ. They feed chiefly on decaying vegetable substances.
  • noun (Bot.) a composite plant (Sonchus oleraceus) said to be eaten by swine and some other animals.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb transitive To scatter, disperse, or plant (seeds).
  • noun A female pig.
  • noun A channel that conducts molten metal to molds.
  • noun A mass of metal solidified in a mold.
  • noun derogatory, slang A contemptible woman.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an adult female hog
  • verb place (seeds) in or on the ground for future growth
  • verb place seeds in or on (the ground)
  • verb introduce into an environment

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old English sugu and Old English ; see sū- in Indo-European roots.]

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English sowen, from Old English sāwan; see sē- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Old English sāwan, from Proto-Germanic *sēanan, from Proto-Indo-European *seh₁-.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Middle English sowe, from Old English sugu, from Proto-Germanic *sugō (compare West Frisian sûch, Dutch zeug, Low German Söög, Swedish sugga, Norwegian sugge), from Proto-Indo-European *suh₂kéh₂ (compare Welsh hwch ‘pig’, Sanskrit सूकर (sūkará, "swine, boar")), from *suh₂-, *sū- ‘pig’ (compare German Sau, Latin sūs, Tocharian B suwo, Ancient Greek ὗς (hỹs), Albanian thi, Avestan hū ‘boar’). See also swine.

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Examples

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  • Female pig; distribute seeds.

    November 22, 2007

  • "9. A military engine consisting of a movable roof arranged to protect men handling a battering-ram. Compare vinea, also cat and cat-castle."

    --Century Dictionary

    January 7, 2011