Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

alow

1 American  
[uh-loh] / əˈloʊ /

adverb

Nautical.
  1. below decks.

  2. (on a square-rigged sailing ship) in the lower rigging, specifically, below the lower yards (opposed to aloft).


alow 2 American  
[uh-loh] / əˈloʊ /
Or alowe

adjective

Northern British Dialect.
  1. ablaze; aflame.


alow British  
/ əˈləʊ /

adverb

  1. (postpositive) nautical in or into the lower rigging of a vessel, near the deck

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of alow1

1350–1400; earlier, downward, lower down, Middle English aloue; see a- 1, low 1

Origin of alow2

1150–1200; Middle English o loghe, a lowe; see a- 1, low 3

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:

The Social Security Administration’s policy will alow people to select their sex in records “without needing to provide documentation of their sex designation,” Ms. Kijakazi said.

From New York Times Oct. 19, 2022

Things had been going on more peaceably than usual—weather having been hot, with light steady wind, which just took us easily through the water with stunsails set alow and aloft.

From Midnight Webs by George Manville Fenn

Nor guilty Paris; nay, the Gods, the Gods who pity nought, Have overturned your lordship fair, and laid your Troy alow.

From The Æneids of Virgil Done into English Verse by William Morris

They stirred their stumps, they spiked the pumps, They spliced the mizzen brace; Aloft and alow they worked, but oh!

From The Book of Humorous Verse by Carolyn Wells

Then pretty Lasses venture now, Kind Fortune may her Smiles alow.

From Wit and Mirth: or Pills to Purge Melancholy, Vol. 5 of 6 by Thomas D'Urfey

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Dictionary.com's Learning Companion

Go beyond just looking up words.
Remember them forever with VocabTrainer.

Start training