cow
1 Americannoun
-
cows,
plural
-
kine
plural (Archaic)
-
the mature female of a bovine animal, especially of the genus Bos.
-
the female of certain other mammals, as elephants, seals, and whales.
-
Informal. a domestic bovine of either sex and any age.
-
Slang: Disparaging and Offensive.
-
a contemptible woman, especially one who is fat, stupid, lazy, etc.
-
a woman who has a large number of children or is frequently pregnant.
-
idioms
-
have a cow, to become very angry or upset; throw a fit.
My mom will have a cow when she hears I'm moving.
-
till / until the cows come home, for a long time; forever.
You can keep arguing till the cows come home, but I won't change my mind.
verb (used with object)
-
cows,
present (3rd person singular)
-
cowed,
past participle, past
-
cowing
present participle
noun
-
the mature female of any species of cattle, esp domesticated cattle
-
the mature female of various other mammals, such as the elephant, whale, and seal
-
(not in technical use) any domestic species of cattle
-
informal a disagreeable woman
-
slang something objectionable (esp in the phrase a fair cow )
-
informal for a very long time; effectively for ever
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
cowsimple
-
cowssimple
-
have cowedperfect
-
has cowedperfect
-
am cowingprogressive
-
are cowingprogressive
-
is cowingprogressive
-
have been cowingperfect progressive
-
has been cowingperfect progressive
Past
-
cowedsimple
-
had cowedperfect
-
was cowingprogressive
-
were cowingprogressive
-
had been cowingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of cow1
First recorded before 900; Middle English cou, cu, Old English cuu, cū; cognate with German Kuh, Dutch koe, Old Norse kȳr, Sanskrit gáuḥ “ox, cow,” Latin bōs “ox, cow,” Greek boûs “ox, cow”; cf. bovine, gaur
Origin of cow2
First recorded in 1610–20; perhaps from Old Norse kūga “to oppress, cow”; compare Norwegian kue “to cow”
Explanation
If it lives on a farm, makes a mooing sound, and produces milk, it is probably a cow. Most people would immediately identify a cow, the large, cud-chewing female of what is known as "cattle." Cows are typically domesticated farm animals, though the females of wilder bovine relatives are also called cows. The verb form of cow, "to frighten or subdue," comes from the docile nature of most cows — they are fairly easy to intimidate, or easily cowed. The Old English root is cu, from the Indo-European gwous, which might have developed from the sound that cows make.
Vocabulary lists containing cow
A Vocabulary Bestiary: Animals That Behave as Verbs
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Amazing Animals, List 1
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Amazing Animals, A-Z
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Although that is much slower than an Olympic swimmer, who can travel up to 65 body lengths per minute, it is comparable to the swimming pace of a cow shark moving leisurely through the ocean.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 23, 2026
“SpaceX just showed Wall Street what it really is: an AI infrastructure company with a satellite cash cow attached,” said tech-investment strategist Luke Lango, in e-mailed commentary.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026
“The surgeon told me I might need a new heart valve, and that she had a cow valve she could use,” Aronie recalled.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2026
All of them found a buyer apart from a concrete cow.
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026
Then she began coating herself with mud and grass, and probably a little cow dung.
From "The Wild Robot Escapes" by Peter Brown
Developer Gareth McDonald describes FarmDrive as "Facebook for cows".
From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2026
The shorthand used to describe Milton Keynes often refers to concrete cows and its many roundabouts.
From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2026
On “Heal My Faith,” the rapper who first gained mainstream attention by lighting the pop chart’s sacred cows afire wonders why we can’t all just get along.
From Salon ● Oct. 21, 2026
They occur naturally in the milk of animals such as cows, sheep, and goats, but they can also be produced artificially during the manufacture of partially hydrogenated fats.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 8, 2026
The cows looked up from their stalls as the goose perched himself on a railing near the middle of the barn.
From "The Wild Robot Escapes" by Peter Brown
He gazed with placid satisfaction out of his car window at the Argentine's horizon-filling wheat ranches and pampas, at her myriad herds of kine and mutton.
From Time Magazine Archive
The crowd expects his office to be bucolic and full of ewes and kine.
From Time Magazine Archive
In that time, the unhappy custodians of the Tate have willy-nilly acquired tons and acres of lowing kine, rearing horses, languorous ladies, idyllic landscapes and storm-beset ships-of-the-line.
From Time Magazine Archive
After the ravages of more than three years of war, it will take more than candy, bubble gum and "al kine camera bag" to supply a decent living standard for South Korea's 22 million people.
From Time Magazine Archive
The gods, moreover, made queer signs appear: cowhides began to crawl, and beef, both raw and roasted, lowed like kine upon the spits.
From "The Odyssey" by Homer
But O’Donnell has refused to be cowed by the president’s bullying for nearly 20 years.
From Slate ● Jun. 11, 2026
But feminists should not be cowed — and not just because this case, a version of which was already litigated in Carroll’s favor, is likely to crumble in court.
From Salon ● May 29, 2026
Her other brother, Albert, feels increasingly overshadowed by Viktor and cowed by the demands of the family’s failing farm.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 3, 2026
But he insisted that he would not be cowed by antisemitism.
From Barron's ● Mar. 13, 2026
He was mocking me, of course, expecting me to slink down into my seat, cowed and ashamed.
From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
“To have the same effect of cowing the Taiwan population, Beijing is forced to be more threatening,” said Ja Ian Chong, a political scientist at the National University of Singapore.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2022
Klayman has historically showed little sign of cowing before powerful figures.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 10, 2021
According to the The Committee to Protect Journalists, there are few effective barriers to prevent autocratic governments from using sophisticated surveillance technology to attempt cowing or silencing a free press.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 19, 2021
There are signs, too, of new efforts to harness the law to the cause of cowing the press.
From New York Times ● Nov. 22, 2016
Rather than cowing the students into submission, the arrests stiffened their resolve, and they returned to the streets with renewed conviction.
From "Because They Marched" by Russell Freedman
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
