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• plough
  plough

  noun

  plow.
• Plough
  Plough

  noun

  the group of the seven brightest stars in the constellation Ursa Major

plough

American  

[plou] / plaʊ /

noun

Chiefly British.

1. plow.

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plough ¹ British  

/ 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

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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 British  

/ 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

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Other Word Forms

• plougher
  noun
• unploughed
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of plough

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

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

plough Plough

But as chipmakers plough resources into lucrative HBM, shortages of the less flashy memory chips in everyday consumer electronics are pushing up prices, with Apple hiking the cost of its MacBooks and iPads.

From Barron's ● Jul. 9, 2026

Gas and dust are piling up there much like snow gathering in front of a plough.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 1, 2026

The world’s largest brewer, Anheuser-Busch InBev, said this week it would plough $600 million into its operations in the U.S., where it makes Budweiser and other labels.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 23, 2026

Will that new leader be able to plough a distinctly Welsh path?

From BBC ● Feb. 2, 2026

‘The strongest must seek a way, say you? But I say: let a ploughman plough, but choose an otter for swimming, and for running light over grass and leaf, or over snow — an Elf.’

From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien

“I think he’s going to be playing football for a long time,” said Plough, now the head coach at UC-Davis.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2025

“He sent me a picture of the whiteboard once,” said Tim Plough, who coached Mendoza at Cal.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2025

Find the Plough and trace a line down from the two stars on the right until you find Regulus, the brightest star in the constellation of Leo.

From BBC ● Nov. 17, 2024

Playcaller Jake Spavital just accepted the same post with Baylor, and his potential replacement, tight ends coach Tim Plough, took the head coaching position at UC Davis.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 3, 2023

And there it remained until 1960 when it was discovered by Kenyan divers Conway Plough and Peter Philips.

From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler