cow
1 Americannoun
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the mature female of a bovine animal, especially of the genus Bos.
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the female of certain other mammals, as elephants, seals, and whales.
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Informal. a domestic bovine of either sex and any age.
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Slang: Disparaging and Offensive.
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a contemptible woman, especially one who is fat, stupid, lazy, etc.
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a woman who has a large number of children or is frequently pregnant.
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idioms
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have a cow, to become very angry or upset; throw a fit.
My mom will have a cow when she hears I'm moving.
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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)
noun
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the mature female of any species of cattle, esp domesticated cattle
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the mature female of various other mammals, such as the elephant, whale, and seal
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(not in technical use) any domestic species of cattle
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informal a disagreeable woman
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slang something objectionable (esp in the phrase a fair cow )
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informal for a very long time; effectively for ever
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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cowsimple
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cowssimple
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have cowedperfect
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has cowedperfect
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am cowingprogressive
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are cowingprogressive
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is cowingprogressive
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have been cowingperfect progressive
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has been cowingperfect progressive
Past
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cowedsimple
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had cowedperfect
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was cowingprogressive
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were cowingprogressive
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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
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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:
“We are at incredibly high beef prices because the cow herd is at its lowest point in 80 years,” says Justin Benavidez, the Department of Agriculture’s chief economist.
From Barron's ● Jul. 1, 2026
It looks simple, but if a child miscounts, counts one cow twice or skips one, it reveals they need to work on their number sense.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026
About 75% of America’s beef cow herd is now in drought.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 30, 2026
She looked at me as though I had asked her to bring me the cow so I could introduce myself.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026
Her cow was nowhere in sight; neither was her pig.
From "Nory Ryan’s Song" by Patricia Reilly Giff
It is a place out of time, reached by a rocky road between arid hills and the sea where you have to dodge stray cows, goats and wild horses.
From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026
Hindus consider cows sacred and killing them is illegal in many states.
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026
We wouldn’t be able to feed people cows.
From Salon ● Jul. 5, 2026
Then several cows and calves crested the ridgeline and came forward, answering her call.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
“Good for you, Roz!” shouted Tess, and the other cows smiled.
From "The Wild Robot Escapes" by Peter Brown
All winter the monkey lived in the Lewis barn, playing simian pranks on Farmer Lewis' 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
Driving through Virginia to his Rapidan camp for the weekend, President Hoover saw for himself pastures toasted brown, corn drooping dead on the stalk, lean kine herded miles to water.
From Time Magazine Archive
The crowd expects his office to be bucolic and full of ewes and kine.
From Time Magazine Archive
“He can hear fish. So in our hanabata days, he helped ’em proliferate and he always had the best catch, but he not think beyond those kine fish.
From "Clairboyance" by Kristiana Kahakauwila
But O’Donnell has refused to be cowed by the president’s bullying for nearly 20 years.
From Slate ● Jun. 11, 2026
Tech was the major driver behind the better-than-expected earnings growth in the first quarter of this year, as well as subsequent upward revisions, so it’s little wonder bulls aren’t cowed.
From Barron's ● Jun. 8, 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
Of course some of us wept and raged when he once again had to flee some bigger monkey that he had clearly annoyed, but while Punch was certainly cowed, he was never broken.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 20, 2026
I am expecting to find Cardan as I left him, cowed and quiet, perhaps even more miserable than before.
From "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black
“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
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
Even as lawmakers, business groups and foreign leaders expressed alarm, senior White House officials showed no sign of backing down or cowing under the blowback.
From Washington Post ● May 31, 2019
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
Definitions 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.
