sown
Americanverb
verb
Other Word Forms
- unsown adjective
Explanation
When a farmer's fields are sown, it means that she's planted seeds in them. If you sow something, you scatter seeds on it or plant tiny seedlings in it. The adjective sown is the past participle of sow, so you could say, "The field behind the school was sown with wildflower seeds," or "There were so many seeds that couldn't be sown this year because of the drought." The word comes from the Old English sāwan, "to scatter seed upon the ground."
Vocabulary lists containing sown
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.
The Iranians also had influence mines adapted to the Gulf's shallow waters, which are sown on the seabed and explode when a large ship is detected overhead, he said.
From Barron's • Mar. 11, 2026
Yet so much of the media coverage around Kennedy, especially lately, has focused more on his personality and lurid life history rather than the chaos and destruction he has sown.
From Salon • Nov. 29, 2025
Those sown in August are currently just tiny blue-green shoots.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 21, 2025
The collapse of a British prosecution of two alleged spies for China has sown more distrust throughout U.K. politics and government than Mr. Xi could dream.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 23, 2025
They were easily grown, merely by being sown or planted.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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.
