plow

[ plou ]

/ plaʊ /

noun

an agricultural implement used for cutting, lifting, turning over, and partly pulverizing soil.

any of various implements resembling or suggesting this, as a kind of plane for cutting grooves or a contrivance for clearing away snow from a road or track.

Type Founding. (formerly) an instrument for cutting the groove in the foot of type.

Bookbinding. a device for trimming the edges of the leaves by hand.

(initial capital letter) Astronomy.

the constellation Ursa Major.
the Big Dipper.

verb (used with object)

to turn up (soil) with a plow.

to make (a furrow) with a plow.

to tear up, cut into, or make a furrow, groove, etc. in (a surface) with or as if with a plow (often followed by up): The tractor plowed up an acre of trees.

to clear by the use of a plow, especially a snowplow (sometimes followed by out): The city's work crews were busily plowing the streets after the blizzard.

to invest, as capital (often followed by into): to plow several hundred million into developing new oil fields.

to reinvest or reutilize (usually followed by back): to plow profits back into new plants and equipment.

(of a ship, boat, animal, etc.)

to cleave the surface of (the water): beavers plowing the pond.
to make (a way) or follow (a course) in this manner: The yacht plowed an easterly course through the choppy Atlantic.

Slang: Vulgar. to have sexual intercourse with.

verb (used without object)

to till the soil or work with a plow.

to take plowing in a specified way: land that plows easily.

to move forcefully through something in the manner of a plow (often followed by through, into, along, etc.): The cop plowed through the crowd, chasing after the thief. The car plowed into our house.

to proceed in a slow, laborious, and steady manner (often followed by through): The researcher plowed through a pile of reports.

to move through water by cleaving the surface: a ship plowing through a turbulent sea.

Verb Phrases

plow under,

to bury under soil by plowing.
to cause to disappear; force out of existence; overwhelm: Many mom-and-pop groceries have been plowed under by the big chain stores.

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a person who acts as though he or she knows everything and who dismisses the opinions, comments, or suggestions of others.

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a well-intentioned but naive and often ineffectual social or political reformer.

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Also especially British, plough.

Origin of plow

before 1100; Middle English plouh, plugh(e), plough(e), Old English plōh; cognate with German Pflug plow

OTHER WORDS FROM plow

plow·a·ble, adjectiveplow·a·bil·i·ty, nounplow·er, nouno·ver·plow, verb

re·plow, verb (used with object), re·plowed, re·plow·ing.sub·plow, nounsub·plow, verbun·plow·a·ble, adjectiveun·plowed, adjectivewell-plowed, adjective

Words nearby plow

ploughshare, ploughstaff, plouk, plovdiv, plover, plow, plow back, plow into, plow steel, plow under, plow wind

British Dictionary definitions for plow under

plow

/ (plaʊ) /

noun, verb

the usual US spelling of plough

Derived forms of plow

plower, noun

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

Idioms and Phrases with plow under

plow under

Cause to vanish, overwhelm, as in The independent bookstores are being plowed under by the large chains. This term alludes to the farmer's burying vegetation by turning it into the soil with a plow. [Second half of 1900s]

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plow