row

[ roh ]

/ roʊ /

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See synonyms for: row / rowed / rowing on Thesaurus.com

Definition of row

noun

a number of persons or things arranged in a line, especially a straight line: a row of apple trees.

a line of persons or things so arranged: The petitioners waited in a row.

a line of adjacent seats facing the same way, as in a theater: seats in the third row of the balcony.

a street formed by two continuous lines of buildings.

Music. tone row.

Checkers. one of the horizontal lines of squares on a checkerboard; rank.

verb (used with object)

to put in a row (often followed by up).

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Idioms about row

hard / long row to hoe, a difficult task or set of circumstances to confront: At 32 and with two children, she found attending medical school a hard row to hoe.

Origin of row

First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English reue, reuwe, rou(e) “row, line, rank (line of soldiers),” Old English rǣw, rāw; akin to Middle Dutch rije, Middle High German rīhe, German Reihe “row”

Other definitions for row (2 of 3)

row²

[ roh ]

/ roʊ /

verb (used without object)

to propel a vessel by the leverage of an oar or the like.

verb (used with object)

to propel (a vessel) by the leverage of an oar or the like.

to convey in a boat that is rowed.

to convey or propel (something) in a manner suggestive of rowing.

to require, use, or be equipped with (a number of oars): The captain's barge rowed twenty oars.

to use (oarsmen) for rowing.

to perform or participate in by rowing: to row a race.

to row against in a race: Oxford rows Cambridge.

noun

an act, instance, or period of rowing: It was a long row to the far bank.

an excursion in a rowboat: to go for a row.

Origin of row

First recorded before 950; Middle English rouen, rouwen, Old English rōwan “to go by water, sail, row”; cognate with Old Norse rōa; akin to Latin rēmus, Greek eretmón, both meaning “oar”; see also rudder

OTHER WORDS FROM row

row·a·ble, adjectiverower, nounun·der·row·er, noun

Other definitions for row (3 of 3)

row³

[ rou ]

/ raʊ /

noun

a noisy dispute or quarrel; commotion.

noise or clamor.

verb (used without object)

to quarrel noisily.

verb (used with object)

Chiefly British. to upbraid severely; scold.

OTHER WORDS FOR row

1 spat, tiff, scrap, scrape, set-to.

See synonyms for row on Thesaurus.com

Origin of row

First recorded in 1740–50; origin uncertain

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use row in a sentence

She also wanted to give me a gift — I was 33 when I filmed Aileen on death row — and believed that the interview would sell for millions of dollars.
Aileen Wuornos Killed. I Knew Her. And I Know Why|Eugene Robinson|November 10, 2020|Ozy
The company says it ended Q3 2020 with a GAAP profit of $331 million, the fifth profitable quarter in a row for the US automaker.
Tesla made $331 million profit in Q3 2020|Jonathan M. Gitlin|October 21, 2020|Ars Technica
Nearly 900,000 Americans applied for first-time unemployment benefits last week, the Labor Department announced, the highest number since mid-August and the second weekly increase in a row.
Employment gains are reversing course|Dion Rabouin|October 16, 2020|Axios
The situation is different for vertical farms, which use LED lamps because each row of plants blocks sunlight to the one below.
Inside Singapore’s huge bet on vertical farming|Katie McLean|October 13, 2020|MIT Technology Review

Across the street from the restaurant are six parking spots, lined up in a row.
Can You Parallel Park Your Car?|Zach Wissner-Gross|October 9, 2020|FiveThirtyEight
For years, Mooney rowed around Long Island promoting HIV/AIDS awareness.
Victor Mooney’s Epic Adventure for His Dead Brother|Justin Jones|October 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Odysseus ordered his men to stuff their ears with beeswax as they rowed by.
War Nostalgia Is Leading Veterans to Places Like Syria. One Went Missing There.|Elliot Ackerman|May 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The Rio Grande split into two channels, and we rowed to port and took the American side.
My Night on the Border|Bryan Curtis|May 25, 2010|DAILY BEAST
That the weather being calm, he rowed round me several times, observed my windows and wire-lattices that defenced them.
Gulliver's Travels|Jonathan Swift
They gardened, they drove out, they rowed and sailed upon the lake, but they declined all acquaintances.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3)|Charles James Wills
As he rowed back to the town, it seemed to him that he was quite a different Jacob Worse to the one who had rowed from it.
Skipper Worse|Alexander Lange Kielland
By the time of our return the tide had already risen several feet and we were rowed to the mainland in a boat.
British Highways And Byways From A Motor Car|Thomas D. Murphy
His zeal cooled, and he conjured up a thousand difficulties as they rowed across the bay.
Skipper Worse|Alexander Lange Kielland

British Dictionary definitions for row (1 of 3)

row¹

/ (rəʊ) /

noun

an arrangement of persons or things in a linea row of chairs

mainly British a street, esp a narrow one lined with identical houses
(capital when part of a street name)Church Row

a line of seats, as in a cinema, theatre, etc

maths a horizontal linear arrangement of numbers, quantities, or terms, esp in a determinant or matrix

a horizontal rank of squares on a chessboard or draughtboard

in a row in succession; one after the otherhe won two gold medals in a row

a hard row to hoe a difficult task or assignment

Word Origin for row

Old English rāw, rǣw; related to Old High German rīga line, Lithuanian raiwe strip

British Dictionary definitions for row (2 of 3)

row²

/ (raʊ) /

noun

a noisy quarrel or dispute

a noisy disturbance; commotionwe couldn't hear the music for the row next door

a reprimand

give someone a row informal to scold someone; tell someone off

verb

(intr often foll by with) to quarrel noisily

(tr) archaic to reprimand

Word Origin for row

C18: origin unknown

British Dictionary definitions for row (3 of 3)

row³

/ (rəʊ) /

verb

to propel (a boat) by using oars

(tr) to carry (people, goods, etc) in a rowing boat

to be propelled by means of (oars or oarsmen)

(intr) to take part in the racing of rowing boats as a sport, esp in eights, in which each member of the crew pulls one oarCompare scull (def. 6)

(tr) to race against in a boat propelled by oarsOxford row Cambridge every year

noun

an act, instance, period, or distance of rowing

an excursion in a rowing boat

Derived forms of row

rower, nounrowing, noun

Word Origin for row

Old English rōwan; related to Middle Dutch roien, Middle High German rüejen, Old Norse rōa, Latin rēmus oar

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

Other Idioms and Phrases with row

row

see get one's ducks in a row; kick up a fuss (row); skid row; tough row to hoe.

row

Definition of row

Idioms about row

Origin of row

Other definitions for row (2 of 3)

Origin of row

OTHER WORDS FROM row

Other definitions for row (3 of 3)

OTHER WORDS FOR row

Origin of row

Words related to row

How to use row in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for row (1 of 3)

Word Origin for row

British Dictionary definitions for row (2 of 3)

Word Origin for row

British Dictionary definitions for row (3 of 3)

Derived forms of row

Word Origin for row

Other Idioms and Phrases with row