sow

[soh]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR sow ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), sowed, sown or sowed, sow·ing.

to scatter (seed) over land, earth, etc., for growth; plant.

to plant seed for: to sow a crop.

to scatter seed over (land, earth, etc.) for the purpose of growth.

to implant, introduce, or promulgate; seek to propagate or extend; disseminate: to sow distrust or dissension.

to strew or sprinkle with anything.

verb (used without object), sowed, sown or sowed, sow·ing.

to sow seed, as for the production of a crop.

Origin of sow

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, serere to sow

Related formssow·a·ble, adjectivesow·er, nounun·sowed, adjective

Synonyms for sow

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR sow ON THESAURUS.COM

4. inject, lodge, circulate.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for sowed

distributed, broadcast, cast, spread, strewn, disseminated

Examples from the Web for sowed

Contemporary Examples of sowed

And those lawyers produced a lot of documents and sowed a lot of doubt.
Delaware’s Affluenza Case Affects Justice, Too
Jay Michaelson
April 1, 2014
So, yes, be wary of Greek dominos falling, but remember the domino theory was wrong during the Cold War yet it sowed fear.
Chaos Over New Elections Deepens Fear of a Greece Chain Reaction
Zachary Karabell
May 16, 2012
When you send a tweet, Google a keyword, or stream a Netflix movie, you are harvesting what Shannon sowed.
Drowning in Beeps
Nicholas Carr
March 1, 2011
They pursued their dreams, sowed their oats, established their careers, then began to think about settling down—not settling.
Give Up on Mr. Perfect?
Liesl Schillinger
February 1, 2010

Historical Examples of sowed

He knew nothing about it, and went and sowed his field with it.
The Chinese Fairy Book
Various
He returned disappointed, with a tale that sowed dismay in Fenzileh and Marzak.
The Sea-Hawk
Raphael Sabatini
Therefore I went out and sowed the corn in my enemy's field, that God might exist.
The Great Hunger
Johan Bojer
They sowed neither wheat nor barley, and yet they had lots and lots to eat.
Cossack Fairy Tales and Folk Tales
Anonymous
I have a whole bedful, and all from a penny packet of seed that I sowed myself.
The Carroll Girls
Mabel Quiller-Couch

British Dictionary definitions for sowed

sow

verb sows, sowing, sowed, sown or sowed

to scatter or place (seed, a crop, etc) in or on (a piece of ground, field, etc) so that it may growto sow wheat; to sow a strip of land

(tr) to implant or introduceto sow a doubt in someone's mind

Derived Formssowable, adjectivesower, noun

Word Origin for sow

Old English sāwan; related to Old Norse sā, Old High German sāen, Old Slavonic seja, Latin serere to sow

sow

noun

a female adult pig

the female of certain other animals, such as the mink

metallurgy

the channels for leading molten metal to the moulds in casting pig iron
iron that has solidified in these channels

Word Origin for sow

Old English sugu; related to Old Norse sӯr, Old High German sū, Latin sūs, Norwegian sugga, Dutch zeug: see swine

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

Word Origin and History for sowed

sow

Old English sawan "to scatter seed upon the ground or plant it in the earth, disseminate" (class VII strong verb; past tense seow, past participle sawen), from Proto-Germanic *sean (cf. Old Norse sa, Old Saxon saian, Middle Dutch sayen, Dutch zaaien, Old High German sawen, German säen, Gothic saian), from PIE root *se- (1) "to sow" (cf. Latin sero, past tense sevi, past participle satum "to sow;" Old Church Slavonic sejo, sejati; Lithuanian seju, seti "to sow"), source of semen, season (n.), seed (n.), etc. Figurative sense was in Old English.

sow

Old English sugu, su "female of the swine," from Proto-Germanic *su- (cf. Old Saxon, Old High German su, German Sau, Dutch zeug, Old Norse syr), from PIE root *su- (cf. Sanskrit sukarah "wild boar, swine;" Avestan hu "wild boar;" Greek hys "swine;" Latin sus "swine," swinus "pertaining to swine;" Old Church Slavonic svinija "swine;" Lettish sivens "young pig;" Welsh hucc, Irish suig "swine; Old Irish socc "snout, plowshare"), possibly imitative of pig noise, a notion reinforced by the fact that Sanskrit sukharah means "maker of (the sound) 'su.' " Related to swine. As a term of abuse for a woman, attested from c.1500. Sow-bug "hog louse" is from 1750.

Idioms and Phrases with sowed

sow

In addition to the idiom beginning with sow

sow one's wild oats

also see:

can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear