Dictionary

bow down en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /baʊ ˈdaʊn/
• (Australia) audio

Meanings

1. (idiomatic, intransitive) To bow, to bend oneself as a gesture of deference or respect.
   • 8 Thou shalt not make thee any grauen image, or any likenesse of any thing that is in heauen aboue, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth. 9 Thou shalt not bow downe thy selfe vnto them, nor serue them: for I the Lord thy God am a ielous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers vpon the children, vnto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, 10 And shewing mercy vnto thousands, of them that loue me, and keepe my commandements. 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Deuteronomy 5:8–10:
   • Shepard: The rest of the galaxy isn't just going to bow down just because we tell them to. We'll need the fleets to bring them in line. 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Citadel:
   • You were all so powerful, so overwhelming. The whole world bowed down before you. c. 1921 (date written), Karel Čapek, translated by Paul Selver, R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots): A Fantastic Melodrama […], Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1923, →OCLC, Act 2:
2. (intransitive, qualifier:African-American Vernacular, slang) To submit to another; to acknowledge one's inferiority to another.
   • You better bow down to my skills.

Forms

Deriveds

bowed-down · bow down before the porcelain god

Translations (11)

kcg beak (to bend oneself as a gesture of respect or deference) · ota اكمك (to bend oneself as a gesture of respect or deference) · fr s’incliner (to bend oneself as a gesture of respect or deference) · grc προσκυνέω (to bend oneself as a gesture of respect or deference) · got 𐌰𐌽𐌰𐌷𐌽𐌴𐌹𐍅𐌰𐌽 (to bend oneself as a gesture of respect or deference) · fi kumartaa (to bend oneself as a gesture of respect or deference) · de sich niederwerfen (to bend oneself as a gesture of respect or deference) · ang ġebūgan (to bend oneself as a gesture of respect or deference) · ang onhnīgan (to bend oneself as a gesture of respect or deference) · mr पाया पडणे (to bend oneself as a gesture of respect or deference) · hy խոնարհվել (to bend oneself as a gesture of respect or deference)