plough

[plou]

noun

Chiefly British.

1. plow.

plough

¹

/ plaʊ /

noun

1. an agricultural implement with sharp blades, attached to a horse, tractor, etc, for cutting or turning over the earth

2. any of various similar implements, such as a device for clearing snow

3. a plane with a narrow blade for cutting grooves in wood

4. (in agriculture) ploughed land

5. to begin or undertake a task

verb

1. to till (the soil) with a plough

2. to make (furrows or grooves) in (something) with or as if with a plough

3. to move (through something) in the manner of a plough

   the ship ploughed the water

4. to work at slowly or perseveringly

5. (intr; foll by into or through) (of a vehicle) to run uncontrollably into something in its path

   the plane ploughed into the cottage roof

6. (tr; foll by in, up, under, etc) to turn over (a growing crop, manure, etc) into the earth with a plough

7. slang,  (intr) to fail an examination

Plough

²

/ plaʊ /

noun

1. Usual US name: the Big Dipper. Also known as: Charles's Wain. the group of the seven brightest stars in the constellation Ursa Major

Other Word Forms

• unploughed adjective
• plougher noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of plough¹

Old English plōg plough land; related to Old Norse plogr, Old High German pfluoc

Example Sentences

He has ploughed some of those riches into a European venture capital firm, which has backed firms such as Germany's Helsing, which develops weapons systems powered by artificial intelligence.

From BBC

Redford often shunned the Hollywood limelight, preferring to plough his own furrow.

From BBC

Stage 5: Half of the Israel Premier Tech team are forced to stop after ploughing into a makeshift barrier pulled across the road by protestors during the team time trial.

From BBC

The couple said they ploughed a third of their profits each year back into nature conservation work.

From BBC

The England coach had just watched England finally fire up their driving maul, shove Australia into reverse and plough over the line.

From BBC