mow
1 Americanverb (used with object)
-
to cut down (grass, grain, etc.) with a scythe or a machine.
-
to cut grass, grain, etc., from.
to mow the lawn.
verb (used without object)
verb phrase
noun
-
a heap or pile of hay or of sheaves of grain in a barn.
-
the place in a barn where hay, sheaves of grain, etc., are stored.
verb (used with object)
noun
verb (used without object)
verb
-
to cut down (grass, crops, etc) with a hand implement or machine
-
(tr) to cut the growing vegetation of (a field, lawn, etc)
noun
-
the part of a barn where hay, straw, etc, is stored
-
the hay, straw, etc, stored
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of mow1
First recorded before 900; Middle English mowen, mouwen “to stack hay or grain,” Old English māwan “to mow;” cognate with Old Frisian mīa, German mähen
Origin of mow2
First recorded before 900; Middle English mow(e), mou, moghe, Old English mūga, mūha, mūwa “a heap or stack of grain”; cognate with Old Norse mūgi “swath”
Origin of mow3
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English moue, mouwe, mouhe, from Middle French moue “lip, pout,” Old French möe, from Frankish; akin to Middle Dutch mouwe “protruding lip”
Explanation
When you clip grass or other plants, you mow it. If you realize your front lawn is taller than your dog, it might be time to mow it. People with grassy lawns usually mow them throughout the growing season, keeping them neatly trimmed and green. Farmers mow some food crops and hay as well, when they're ready to be harvested, although they use different tools to do it, including a curved blade called a scythe. An old-fashioned meaning of mow is "a stack of hay," or "a place where hay is stored."
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:
Every week he would mow the yards after he lost his job and took pride in landscaping the grass, but that was just the surface of what he meant to us.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
Residents who live in the vicinity of Church Pulverbatch Parish Council in Shropshire have spent the past year sowing wildflower meadows and encouraging no mow areas.
From BBC ● Jun. 10, 2026
"I just felt bad having to mow in certain areas," Morse said.
From Science Daily ● May 28, 2026
In exchange, "they don't have to mow as often", to ensure the panels function properly, but also, and more importantly, to comply with bushfire prevention regulations.
From Barron's ● Feb. 22, 2026
Sir Grummore got up, dusting mow out of himself unhurt, blaming his spear.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
They mowed it, raked it and planted herbs and wildflowers, a London tribunal heard.
From BBC ● Mar. 8, 2026
Adjessom was a student at Davidson High School, and loved ones describe him as a good-natured and generous teen who mowed his neighbors’ lawns on the weekends.
From Slate ● Oct. 23, 2025
They have mowed down the Cincinnati Reds, the Philadelphia Phillies and the Brewers with ruthless efficiency.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2025
Tom mowed lawns, washed cars and ran a lemonade stand.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 31, 2025
The lawn outside the American embassy in Islamabad was neatly mowed, dotted with circular clusters of flowers, bordered by razor-straight hedges.
From "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini
The secret, he explained, is that mowing the lawn is a cover story.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
For the tourists' benefit, Vlkolinec puts on traditional craft demonstrations, from sewing folk costumes and gingerbread decorating to mowing and haymaking.
From Barron's ● Jul. 3, 2026
"I counsel people to wear hearing protection when they're mowing grass instead of listening to music through earbuds," Price said.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 10, 2026
Tam said she had not had a response from the operations team at the council, which oversees the mowing, but believes they were aware of the planting beforehand.
From BBC ● Mar. 13, 2026
It was inside the neighbor who’d stopped mowing her lawn or keeping track of where her kids went after school.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
"In the past it was just a field that was mown, whereas now we've got this beautiful landscape with all the seeded grasses," Brooks said.
From BBC ● Jun. 10, 2026
So if it’s a grass buffer, it must be mown and kept to a certain standard.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 17, 2025
Some greens have deep rough on one side and closely mown areas on the other that send balls rolling some 20 yards away.
From Washington Times ● May 17, 2023
Hughes sent his approach long on the 18th and faced a difficult putt up closely mown grass to a green and raced away from him.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 1, 2022
Wilfred and the white woman were standing on a patch of freshly mown grass in front of the first of four all-weather tennis courts, whose surface was strewn with Dunlop tennis balls.
From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane
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.
