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Synonyms

harrow

1 American  
[har-oh] / ˈhær oʊ /

noun

  1. an agricultural implement with spikelike teeth or upright disks, drawn chiefly over plowed land to level it, break up clods, root up weeds, etc.

verb (used with object)

  1. to draw a harrow over (land).

  2. to disturb keenly or painfully; distress the mind, feelings, etc., of.

verb (used without object)

  1. to become broken up by harrowing, as soil.

harrow 2 American  
[har-oh] / ˈhær oʊ /

verb (used with object)

Archaic.

  1. to ravish; violate; despoil.

  2. harry.

  3. (of Christ) to descend into (hell) to free the righteous held captive.

Harrow 3 American  
[har-oh] / ˈhær oʊ /

noun

  1. a borough of Greater London, in SE England.

  2. a boarding school for boys, founded in 1571 at Harrow-on-the-Hill, an urban district near London, England.

harrow 1 British  
/ ˈhærəʊ /

noun

  1. any of various implements used to level the ground, stir the soil, break up clods, destroy weeds, etc, in soil

"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

verb

  1. (tr) to draw a harrow over (land)

  2. (intr) (of soil) to become broken up through harrowing

  3. (tr) to distress; vex

"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
harrow 2 British  
/ ˈhærəʊ /

verb

  1. to plunder or ravish

  2. (of Christ) to descend into (hell) to rescue righteous souls

"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
Harrow 3 British  
/ ˈhærəʊ /

noun

  1. a borough of NW Greater London; site of an English boys' public school founded in 1571 at Harrow-on-the-Hill, a part of this borough. Pop: 210 700 (2003 est). Area: 51 sq km (20 sq miles)

"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

Other Word Forms

  • harrower noun
  • harrowing adjective
  • harrowment noun

Etymology

Origin of harrow1

1250–1300; Middle English harwe; akin to Old Norse herfi harrow, Dutch hark rake, Greek krṓpion sickle

Origin of harrow2

before 1000; Middle English harwen, herwen, Old English hergian to harry

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.

Track maintenance will then harrow the track to release the compactness and return it to its regular consistency for racing.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 27, 2021

Alcée rode his horse under the shelter of a side projection where the chickens had huddled and there were plows and a harrow piled up in the corner.

From Textbooks • Dec. 21, 2021

In her diary entry for July 15, 1944, Anne Frank wrote words that would harrow and challenge generations not yet born: “I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart.”

From Seattle Times • Nov. 24, 2019

Called DISCOL, the simple trial involved raking the centre of a roughly 11-square-kilometre plot in the Pacific Ocean with an 8-metre-wide implement called a plough harrow.

From Nature • Jul. 23, 2019

I finished it in the afternoon, and planned to harrow it in the morning, and then seed it.

From "Z for Zachariah" by Robert C. O’Brien

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.