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:
His cash cow: Mario Moreno, better known as Cantinflas, the improvisational comic genius sometimes called the “Mexican Charlie Chaplin.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
Comedian Alan Carr is set to keep the only lot which failed to sell at an auction of unwanted items from his recently purchased Scottish castle - a concrete cow sculpture.
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026
“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
About 75% of America’s beef cow herd is now in drought.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 30, 2026
I couldn’t remember a day that you couldn’t hear something around our home: a cackling chicken, a grunting hog, or a mooing cow.
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
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
“I chase grandkids and chase cows and ride motorcycles. When I retired I kind of went into my hole in Austin and I like living in my hole.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
They alleged that the men were being punished for "saving cows".
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026
We wouldn’t be able to feed people cows.
From Salon ● Jul. 5, 2026
From the age of six, in shoes made from tree bark, he gathered wood and water for the family and herded cows and sheep for nearby landowners.
From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin
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
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
All winter the monkey lived in the Lewis barn, playing simian pranks on Farmer Lewis' kine.
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
Now give those kine a wide berth, keep your thoughts intent upon your course for home, and hard seafaring brings you all to Ithaka.
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
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
From the backseat, Harrison said in a cowed whisper, “They are using everything they are having to take Port Harcourt.”
From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
“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
“Master Class” showcased Zoe Caldwell as Callas recalling personal sacrifices and artistic triumphs, and cowing the audience with bromides.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 24, 2020
Hurston defiantly writes without cowing to such worries.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 27, 2020
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.
