sow
1 Americanverb (used with object)
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to scatter (seed) over land, earth, etc., for growth; plant.
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to plant seed for.
to sow a crop.
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to scatter seed over (land, earth, etc.) for the purpose of growth.
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to implant, introduce, or promulgate; seek to propagate or extend; disseminate.
to sow distrust or dissension.
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to strew or sprinkle with anything.
verb (used without object)
noun
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an adult female swine.
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the adult female of various other animals, as the bear.
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Metallurgy.
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a large oblong mass of iron that has solidified in the common channel through which the molten metal flows to the smaller channels in which the pigs solidify.
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the common channel itself.
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a basin holding any of certain molten nonferrous metals to be cast.
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noun
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a female adult pig
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the female of certain other animals, such as the mink
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metallurgy
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the channels for leading molten metal to the moulds in casting pig iron
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iron that has solidified in these channels
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verb
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to scatter or place (seed, a crop, etc) in or on (a piece of ground, field, etc) so that it may grow
to sow wheat
to sow a strip of land
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(tr) to implant or introduce
to sow a doubt in someone's mind
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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sowsimple
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sowssimple
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have sowedperfect
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have sownperfect
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has sowedperfect
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has sownperfect
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am sowingprogressive
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are sowingprogressive
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is sowingprogressive
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have been sowingperfect progressive
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has been sowingperfect progressive
Past
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sowedsimple
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had sowedperfect
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had sownperfect
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was sowingprogressive
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were sowingprogressive
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had been sowingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of sow1
First recorded before 900; Middle English sowen, Old English sāwan; cognate with Dutch zaaien, German säen, Old Norse sā, Gothic saian; akin to seed, Latin sēmen “seed”
Origin of sow2
First recorded before 900; Middle English soue, sou(we), Old English sugu, sū; cognate with German Sau, Old Norse sȳr, Latin sūs, Greek hûs, Tocharian B suwo; see swine
Explanation
When you plant seeds in the ground, you sow them. You can also sow things like doubts or ideas, simply by spreading them around. If your ideas (or your seeds) develop and grow, you've successfully sown them. The verb sow is pronounced completely differently from the noun sow, which means "a female pig." When you sow flower seeds, it rhymes with "go." When you admire an enormous, muddy sow in a pig pen, it rhymes with "cow." When two words are spelled the same but sound different, they're called heteronyms.
Vocabulary lists containing sow
"The Hill We Climb," by Amanda Gorman
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Dirty Words: The Language of Gardening
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Starting Your New Life: Inspiring Words from Commencement Speeches
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
On Friday morning, Burke’s defense team tried to sow doubt about the conclusiveness of the autopsy conducted in the case.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
There are ways to improve voting integrity, but Mr. Tillis is right that it’s reckless to sow generalized suspicion that American elections aren’t honest.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
“AI hype and exuberant financial markets” could sow the seeds of instability.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 8, 2026
This is a show that pits real people against each other by requiring them to build friendships and trust while empowering a few to sow doubt and dissent by lying through their teeth.
From Salon ● Jun. 20, 2026
My software didn’t catch that but because, as we all know, it can’t tell the difference between sound-alike words: but and butt, need and knead, sew and sow, and so on.
From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner
Wall Street loves an ugly portmanteau, or jamming together of two words in a way that sows confusion, followed closely by dislike.
From Barron's ● Jun. 12, 2026
When feed costs become unsustainable, farmers may be forced to kill or sell off the breeding cows and sows that represent the future of the food supply.
From Salon ● Apr. 8, 2026
The result is false information that sows confusion.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 14, 2026
He sows chaos even when he clearly doesn’t mean the things he says.
From Slate ● Mar. 6, 2026
Following the pig through the trees, we spotted a man downstream with a half dozen large sows milling around him.
From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
Monday's quake sowed panic in otherwise sleepy parts of Mindnao.
From BBC ● Jun. 9, 2026
But it sowed a seed and she joined a local running club in Manchester.
From BBC ● Apr. 27, 2026
The American Academy of Pediatrics called the order "historic and welcome," saying in a statement the changes had "sowed chaos and confusion for parents and pediatricians across the country."
From Barron's ● Mar. 16, 2026
The masks and lack of identification have sowed fears the armed men could be people posing as law enforcement officers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 1, 2025
The young rice beds which Wang Lung sowed at first were squares of jade upon the brown earth.
From "The Good Earth" by Pearl S. Buck
Nearly half of the country's net sown farmland has no assured irrigation and depends largely on rainfall, making the timing and spread of the monsoon critical for millions of farmers.
From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026
We have trained sloth and docility and are reaping what we have sown.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026
But the US beat heavily favored Colombia to reach the last 16, and the seeds for an American soccer boom were sown.
From Barron's ● Jun. 9, 2026
Mr. Nayler develops these civilizational portrayals in a story skillfully sown with dramatic surprises.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
He would have been changed, as they said, forever; sown in dishonor, he would be raised in honor: he would have been born again.
From "Go Tell It on the Mountain" by James Baldwin
Government data shows the area planted with summer crops until the end of June is down by nearly 23% from the corresponding period in 2025, with rice sowing falling by a quarter.
From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026
Meanwhile, frightful aftershocks continued to rock the area, sowing terror in a population already reaching the limits of endurance.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026
The people of New York vanquished him with none of the spite he has spent decades sowing, but with grace, love, and pride in their city.
From Salon ● Jun. 17, 2026
For now, 80-year-old Molchaniuk from Tychyna Avenue is grateful that spring finally arrived and holds the promise of a new sowing season at her dacha’s vegetable patch.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 18, 2026
“Maybe it’s like Pastor Dames says—we have to keep sowing love and goodness in the world even when the world hates us. Remember? We reap what we sow.”
From "Betty Before X" by Ilyasah Shabazz and Renée Watson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
