bow
A weapon made of a curved piece of wood or other flexible material whose ends are connected by a string, used for shooting arrows.
Noun 4 meanings
A weapon made of a curved piece of wood or other flexible material whose ends are connected by a string, used for shooting arrows.
“Holonym: bow and arrow”
A curved bend in a rod or planar surface, or in a linear formation such as a river (see oxbow).
A rod with horsehair (or an artificial substitute) stretched between the ends, used for playing various stringed musical instruments.
A stringed instrument (chordophone), consisting of a stick with a single taut cord stretched between the ends, most often played by plucking.
Verb 4 meanings
To play music on (a stringed) instrument using a bow.
“The musician bowed his violin expertly.”
To bend or curve, particularly downward.
“The shelf bowed under the weight of the books.”
To exercise powerful or controlling influence over; to bend or incline, figuratively; to humble or subdue.
To bend oneself as a gesture of respect or deference.
“That singer always bows towards her audience for some reason.”
Etymology
From Middle English bowe, from Old English boga, Proto-West Germanic *bogō, from Proto-Germanic *bugô.
Similar and opposite words
BOW at a glance
BOW has 3 letters and scores 8 points in Scrabble (B 3 + O 1 + W 4) and 9 in Words With Friends, before board bonuses. It ranks #4,205 by how often it appears in everyday English. It is valid in ENABLE, NWL2023, Collins/SOWPODS.
Rhymes with bow
All rhymes- RAINBOW12
- ELBOW10
- CROSSBOW15
- LONGBOW13
- OXBOW17
- MOONBOW14
- SADDLEBOW16
- SUNBOW11
- DOWNBOW16
- EMBOW12
- FOGBOW15
- MISTBOW14
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