mowing
[moh-ing]
- mowing machine
- the quantity of grass, grain, etc., cut in a specified period.
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Origin of mowing
mow1
[moh]
- to cut down (grass, grain, etc.) with a scythe or a machine.
- to cut grass, grain, etc., from: to mow the lawn.
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- to cut down grass, grain, etc.
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- mow down,
- to destroy or kill indiscriminately or in great numbers, as troops in battle.
- to defeat, overwhelm, or overcome: The team mowed down its first four opponents.
- to knock down.
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Origin of mow1
before 900; Middle English mowen, Old English māwan; cognate with German mähen
mowe
[mou, moh]
- mow3.
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mow2
[mou]
- the place in a barn where hay, sheaves of grain, etc., are stored.
- a heap or pile of hay or of sheaves of grain in a barn.
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- Chiefly Northern and North Midland U.S. to store (hay) in a barn.
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Origin of mow2
before 900; Middle English mow(e), Old English mūwa, mūha, mūga; cognate with Old Norse mūgi swath
mow3
or mowe
[mou, moh]Archaic.
- a wry or derisive grimace.
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- to make mows, mouths, or grimaces.
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Origin of mow3
1275–1325; Middle English mowe < Middle French moue lip, pout, Old French moe < Frankish; akin to Middle Dutch mouwe protruded lip
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for mowing
Contemporary Examples
Political ads showing Harry Reid on rider mower, mowing the Mall?
She often worked multiple jobs at a time, including tutoring, carpentry, mowing highways, waiting tables, and clerking.
History is likely to dispense with the euphemism of "mowing the lawn" and call this what it is: perpetual war.
He opens his last essay, “Mowing,” with: “Sometimes everything seems simple.”
Historical Examples
He'll sell you a mowing machine and the grass seed to grow the hay to cut with it.
Cape Cod StoriesJoseph C. Lincoln
After a while Peer went down and drove the mowing machine himself.
The Great HungerJohan Bojer
The other men were as busy as ever mowing more hay and hauling in that which was cured.
Out of the DepthsRobert Ames Bennet
The men were mowing this grass when Mr. George and Rollo were there.
Rollo on the RhineJacob Abbott
I am going to the meadows, to see them mowing, I am going to see them make the hay.
Aunt Kitty's StoriesVarious
mow1
- to cut down (grass, crops, etc) with a hand implement or machine
- (tr) to cut the growing vegetation of (a field, lawn, etc)
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Word Origin
Old English māwan; related to Old High German māen, Middle Dutch maeyen to mow, Latin metere to reap, Welsh medi
mow2
- the part of a barn where hay, straw, etc, is stored
- the hay, straw, etc, stored
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Word Origin
Old English mūwa; compare Old Norse mūgr heap, Greek mukōn
mow3
- an archaic word for grimace
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Word Origin
C14: from Old French moe a pout, or Middle Dutch mouwe
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
Word Origin and History for mowing
mow
v.
Old English mawan "to mow" (class VII strong verb; past tense meow, past participle mawen), from Proto-Germanic *mæanan (cf. Middle Low German maeyen, Dutch maaien, Old High German maen, German mähen "to mow," Old English mæd "meadow"), from PIE root *me- "to mow, to cut down grass or grain with a sickle or scythe" (cf. poetic Greek amao, Latin metere "to reap, mow, crop," Italian mietere, Old Irish meithleorai "reapers," Welsh medi). Related: Mowed; mown; mowing.
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mow
n.
"stack of hay," Old English muga, muwa "a heap, swath of corn, crowd of people," earlier muha, from Proto-Germanic *mugon (cf. Old Norse mugr "a heap," mostr "crowd"), of uncertain origin.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper