marrow1
[mar-oh]
- Anatomy. a soft, fatty, vascular tissue in the interior cavities of bones that is a major site of blood cell production.
- the inmost or essential part: to pierce to the marrow of a problem.
- strength or vitality: Fear took the marrow out of him.
- rich and nutritious food.
- Chiefly British. vegetable marrow.
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Origin of marrow1
before 900; Middle English mar(o)we, Old English mearg; cognate with Dutch merg, German Mark, Old Norse mergr
marrow2
[mar-oh; Scot. mar-uh]
- a partner; fellow worker.
- a spouse; helpmate.
- a companion; close friend.
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Origin of marrow2
1400–50; late Middle English marwe fellow worker, partner, perhaps < Old Norse margr friendly, literally, many
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
quintessencekernelsubstancemeatcorebottomsoulpithstuffessentialityquickcreamspiritgistquintessentialvirtualityExamples from the Web for marrow
Contemporary Examples
For, as the poet Bialik said in another context, it is we who will pay the price of the blaze with our blood and marrow.
Mr. Thoreau wanted to drive life into a corner, to live deep and suck out all the marrow.
David McCullough at Wellesley Commencement: ‘You Are Not Special’ (Video)The Daily Beast
June 9, 2012
Unlike donors of vital organs like kidneys, marrow donors can give again and again.
Photojojo Founder Amit Gupta Uses Social Media to Find a Bone-Marrow DonorCaitlin Dickson
November 30, 2011
Those times when I realize I am alone with myself and my thoughts I do take the time to suck the marrow out of it.
Historical Examples
When she pressed a little she felt she distinguished the suffering cries of the marrow.
L'AssommoirEmile Zola
The bone was formed by sifting pure smooth earth and wetting it with marrow.
TimaeusPlato
Worst of all and most fatal is the disease of the marrow, by which the whole course of the body is reversed.
TimaeusPlato
The first principle of all of them was the generation of the marrow.
TimaeusPlato
It is the pith and marrow of every substance, every relation, and every process.
NatureRalph Waldo Emerson
marrow1
- the fatty network of connective tissue that fills the cavities of bones
- the vital part; essence
- vitality
- rich food
- British short for vegetable marrow
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Word Origin
Old English mærg; related to Old Frisian merg, Old Norse mergr
marrow2
- Northeast English dialect, mainly Durham a companion, esp a workmate
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Word Origin
C15 marwe fellow worker, perhaps of Scandinavian origin; compare Icelandic margr friendly
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for marrow
n.
late 14c., from Old English mearg "marrow," earlier mærh, from Proto-Germanic *mazga- (cf. Old Norse mergr, Old Saxon marg, Old Frisian merg, Middle Dutch march, Dutch merg, Old High German marg, German Mark "marrow"), from PIE *mozgo- "marrow" (cf. Sanskrit majjan-, Avestan mazga- "marrow," Old Church Slavonic mozgu, Lithuanian smagenes "brain"). Figurative sense of "inmost or central part" is attested from c.1400.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
marrow
(măr′ō)- Bone marrow.
- The spinal cord.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
marrow
[măr′ō]
- See bone marrow.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
marrow
The soft, specialized connective tissue that fills the cavities of bones. One kind of bone marrow is responsible for manufacturing red blood cells in the body.
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The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.