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Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

bow and scrape en · NOUN

Pronunciation

  • (Australia) audio
  • /ˌbaʊ ən ˈskɹeɪp/

Meanings

  1. A deep formal bow with right leg drawn back touching the ground.
    • [H]e took off his Highland bonnet, and performed a bow and scrape. 1851 April 9, Nathaniel Hawthorne, The House of the Seven Gables, a Romance, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, →OCLC:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
bows and scrapes Number=Plur lexicographic
scrape and bow alternative lexicographic

Relateds

kowtow

Translations (2)

pl głęboki ukłon (deep formal bow) · de Kratzfuß (deep formal bow)

bow and scrape en · VERB

Pronunciation

  • (Australia) audio
  • /ˌbaʊ ən ˈskɹeɪp/

Meanings

  1. To make a deep bow with the right leg drawn back (thus scraping the floor), left hand pressed across the abdomen, right arm held aside.
  2. (broadly, idiomatic) To behave in a servile, obsequious, or excessively polite manner.
    • But he is not one of those lawyers who bow and scrape before wealthy clients. He will not be pushed around. 1988 March 27, Newgate Callendar, "Crime" (book review of The Vulgar Boatman by William G. Tapply), New York Times (retrieved 25 Nov 2012)

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
bowing and scraping Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
bows and scrapes Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic
bowed and scraped Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
bowed and scraped Tense=Past lexicographic
scrape and bow alternative lexicographic

Synonyms

honey up · overrate · apple-polish · make a leg · fawn · fellate · lick someone's ass · duchess · flannel · suck up · fawn over · bootlick · brownnose · kowtow · brownnose · kiss up · toady · kiss someone's ass · dickride · overflatter · suck up · overpraise · bow and scrape · fawn · lick someone's balls · kiss someone's ring · honey around · butter up

Translations (8)

ru расша́ркиваться (behave in a servile, obsequious, or excessively polite manner) · pl płaszczyć się (behave in a servile, obsequious, or excessively polite manner) · fr lécher le cul (behave in a servile, obsequious, or excessively polite manner) · fr caresser dans le sens du poil (behave in a servile, obsequious, or excessively polite manner) · pl bić pokłony (behave in a servile, obsequious, or excessively polite manner) · bg раболепнича (behave in a servile, obsequious, or excessively polite manner) · fr passer de la pommade (behave in a servile, obsequious, or excessively polite manner) · fr cirer les pompes (behave in a servile, obsequious, or excessively polite manner)