From Middle English mowen (participle mowen), from Old English māwan (past tense mēow, past participle māwen), from Proto-West Germanic *māan, from Proto-Germanic *mēaną, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂meh₁- (“to mow, reap”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian mjo (“to mow”), Dutch maaien (“to mow”), German mähen (“to mow”), Luxembourgish méien (“to mow”), Danish meje (“to mow”), Swedish meja (“to mow”); see also Hittite [script needed] (ḫamešḫa, “spring/early summer”, literally “mowing time”), Latin metō (“to harvest, mow”), Ancient Greek ἀμάω (amáō, “to mow”).
Meanings
The act of mowing (a garden, grass, etc.).
The lawn hasn't had a mow for a couple of months, so it's like a jungle out there!
A shot played with a sweeping or scythe-like motion.
I consider it would engender a stiff, tame, cautious mode of play, with only now and then a mow, or a chopping hit. 1828, Sporting Magazine (volume 21? 71? page 10)
At times, they seemed to be playing an especially orgiastic version of Stick Cricket, all computerised mows over midwicket and 30 off the over. 2015, Lawrence Booth, The Shorter Wisden 2015:
From Middle English mowen (participle mowen), from Old English māwan (past tense mēow, past participle māwen), from Proto-West Germanic *māan, from Proto-Germanic *mēaną, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂meh₁- (“to mow, reap”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian mjo (“to mow”), Dutch maaien (“to mow”), German mähen (“to mow”), Luxembourgish méien (“to mow”), Danish meje (“to mow”), Swedish meja (“to mow”); see also Hittite [script needed] (ḫamešḫa, “spring/early summer”, literally “mowing time”), Latin metō (“to harvest, mow”), Ancient Greek ἀμάω (amáō, “to mow”).
Meanings
(transitive) To cut down grass or crops.
He mowed the lawn every few weeks in the summer.
Just let me wake up in the morning to the smell of new-mown hay. 1969, “Skyline Pigeon”, in Bernie Taupin (lyrics), Elton John (music), Empty Sky, performed by Elton John:
(often, transitive, with through) To cut down or slaughter in great numbers.
On the one hand, we had a scenario where, effectively, the American admiral just went "You know what, all the destroyers attack", at which point they mowed through the Japanese destroyers like a Grim Reaper through a harvest of very, very dead gorn, especially with the Brooklyns in support. 2019 March 6, Drachinifel, 25:58 from the start, in The Battle of Samar (Alternate History) - Bring on the Battleships!, archived from the original on 04 Jul 2022:
In the afternoon they attacked again, in close formation: our artillery mowed them, but they came on and on, […] 1915, Captain Robert Palmer, Letters from Mesopotamia:
From Middle English mowe, from Old French moe (“grimace”), from Frankish *mauwa (“pout, protruding lip”), from Proto-Germanic *mawwō (“muff, sleeve”). Akin to Middle Dutch mouwe (“protruding lip”). Doublet of moue ("pout").
Meanings
(dialectal) A scornful grimace; a wry face.
Make mows at him. c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]:
Those that paint them dying […] delineate the prisoners spitting in their executioners faces, and making mowes at them. , Folio Society, 2006, vol.1, p.212
It looked much prettier than before, but still maintained the elfish cast of the eye, like his father, whilst two or three children more had undergone a strange metamorphosis. For there sat on either side the bed's head, a couple of little flat-nosed imps, who with "mops and mows," and with many a grimace and grin, were busied to no end in scratching their own polls, or in pulling the fairy lady's ears with their long and hairy paws. 1850, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, London: H.G. Bohn, page 302:
Forms
Spelling
Features
Labels
Source
mows
Number=Plur
lexicographic
Translations (5)
ru грима́са (a grimace) · bg гримаса (a grimace) · ko 썩은 표정 (a grimace) · ko 오만상 (a grimace) · ko 우거지상 (a grimace)
From Middle English mowe, from Old French moe (“grimace”), from Frankish *mauwa (“pout, protruding lip”), from Proto-Germanic *mawwō (“muff, sleeve”). Akin to Middle Dutch mouwe (“protruding lip”). Doublet of moue ("pout").
Meanings
To make grimaces, mock.
He mowed at me, and, bowing with ironical politeness, pointed to the house. 1894, Stanley J. Weyman, “Chapter III”, in Under the Red Robe:
Nodding, becking, and mowing. 1848, William Tyndale, edited by Henry Walter, Doctrinal Treatises and Introductions to Different Portions of the Holy Scriptures:
For every trifle are they set upon me: / Sometime like apes that mow and chatter at me, / And after bite me; 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]:
From Middle English mowe, form Old English mūga, mūha, from Proto-West Germanic *mūgō, *mūhō, from Proto-Germanic *mūgô, *mūhō; perhaps connected to Ancient Greek μύκων (múkōn, “heap”). Cognate with Norwegian muge (“heap, crowd, flock”).
Meanings
(regional) A stack of hay, corn, beans or a barn for the storage of hay, corn, beans.
The place in a barn where hay or grain in the sheaf is stowed.
es granero (a stack or barn of/for hay, corn, beans) · enm mowe (a stack or barn of/for hay, corn, beans) · ru скирда́ (a stack or barn of/for hay, corn, beans) · ru стог (a stack or barn of/for hay, corn, beans) · ko 건초창고 (the place in a barn) · bg сеновал (the place in a barn) · es hacina (a stack or barn of/for hay, corn, beans) · ru сенова́л (a stack or barn of/for hay, corn, beans) · bg купа сено (a stack or barn of/for hay, corn, beans) · ko 곡창 (the place in a barn) · ko 볏단 (a stack or barn of/for hay, corn, beans) · pl stóg (a stack or barn of/for hay, corn, beans) · ko 건초 더미 (a stack or barn of/for hay, corn, beans) · ka ზვინი (a stack or barn of/for hay, corn, beans)
From Middle English mowe, form Old English mūga, mūha, from Proto-West Germanic *mūgō, *mūhō, from Proto-Germanic *mūgô, *mūhō; perhaps connected to Ancient Greek μύκων (múkōn, “heap”). Cognate with Norwegian muge (“heap, crowd, flock”).
Meanings
To put into mows.
Forms
Spelling
Features
Labels
Source
mows
Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres
lexicographic
mowed
Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part
lexicographic
mowed
Tense=Past
lexicographic
mowing
Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part
lexicographic
Translations (9)
es amontonar (to put into mows) · es apilar (to put into mows) · ru стогова́ть (to put into mows) · ko 저장하다 (to put into mows) · ko 쌓다 (to put into mows) · es hacinar (to put into mows) · es almacenar (to put into mows) · enm mowen (to put into mows) · ru скирдова́ть (to put into mows)
mow en · NOUN · etymology 4
Meanings
(alt-of, alternative, obsolete) Alternative form of mew (a seagull)