stow
stow
1 American
[stoh]
/ stoʊ /
verb (used with object)
-
stows,
present (3rd person singular)
-
stowed,
past participle, past
-
stowing
present participle
-
Nautical.
-
to put (cargo, provisions, etc.) in the places intended for them.
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to put (sails, spars, gear, etc.) in the proper place or condition when not in use.
-
-
to put in a place or receptacle, as for storage or reserve; pack.
He stowed the potatoes in our cellar.
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to fill (a place or receptacle) by packing.
to stow a carton with books.
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to have or afford room for; hold.
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Slang. to stop; break off.
Stow it! Stow the talk!
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to put away, as in a safe or convenient place (often followed byaway ).
-
to lodge or quarter.
verb phrase
Stow
2
American
[stoh]
/ stoʊ /
noun
stow
1
British
/ stəʊ /
verb
-
(often foll by away) to pack or store
-
to fill by packing
-
nautical to pack or put away (cargo, sails and other gear, etc)
-
to have enough room for
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slang (usually imperative) to cease from
stow your noise!
stow it!
Stow
2
British
/ stəʊ /
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
stowsimple
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stowssimple
-
have stowedperfect
-
has stowedperfect
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am stowingprogressive
-
are stowingprogressive
-
is stowingprogressive
-
have been stowingperfect progressive
-
has been stowingperfect progressive
Past
-
stowedsimple
-
had stowedperfect
-
was stowingprogressive
-
were stowingprogressive
-
had been stowingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of stow
1300–50; Middle English stowen, Old English stōwigan to keep, hold back (literally, to place), derivative of stōw place; akin to Old Norse eldstō fireplace, Gothic stojan to judge (literally, to place)
Explanation
When you stow something, you store it or pack it away neatly. If you move into a tiny college dorm room, you might have to stow your shoes under the bed. On an airplane, you are only allowed to bring small suitcases that you can stow in the overhead bins or under the seat in front of you. In an adventure novel, pirates might stow their treasure in a seaside cave. In Old English, stow was a noun, meaning "a place or spot."
Vocabulary lists containing stow
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:
He credits living frugally in all aspects of his life with allowing him to stow away enough savings to retire at age 55.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
Yet Trương doesn’t solely focus on these two young lovers, nor on Nam’s specific plan to stow himself away for good.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 4, 2025
She arranges for Paddington to stow away on a cargo ship to England and tells him to write to her at the Home for Retired Bears.
From Salon ● Jan. 20, 2025
Flights do not include "trolley bags" to stow in overhead compartments or checked baggage.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2024
I watched as her mother helped Jessica stow the bag and then went back into the house with her, slipping her arm around Jessica’s waist.
From "Firegirl" by Tony Abbott
West Stow Country Park in Suffolk will be hosting a pre-booked eclipse event from 17:45, while Dash Astronomical Society has moved its planned event at fire-hit Dunwich Heath to nearby Darsham Village Hall.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
He touted familiar features like Stow ’n Go seats, which fold into the floor to maximize storage space, and a camera that lets parents see what their kids are doing in the back seats.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 4, 2026
The jurors ordered the team to pay Stow $13.9 million in damages.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 24, 2024
Honored by Stow, Mass., at 99, she lived almost another decade, to 108.
From New York Times ● Jan. 20, 2024
Behind Nat a deep voice rumbled, “Avast there, Ben Meeker! Stow that gab about being becalmed!”
From "Carry On, Mr. Bowditch" by Jean Lee Latham
She stows a small knitted figurine of legendary England fly-half Jonny Wilkinson, made for her by a friend's grandmother when Aldcroft was a teenager, in her kit bag for every game.
From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2025
A number of guest rooms also have flexible sleeping setups, like a queen bed that stows into the wall, and a bunk bed with a lower queen bed and an upper twin bed.
From New York Times ● Nov. 27, 2022
The 2.4Ghz wireless dongle stows neatly away in the base of the chassis.
From The Verge ● Jul. 26, 2022
Earlier this year, the labor group said it collected about 2,000 signatures from workers at the four Staten Island facilities where Amazon stows products and packages them for shipment to customers.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 22, 2021
At home, in the evenings, her father stows their shoes in the same cubby, hangs their coats on the same hooks.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
Devi has used many years’ worth of meager birthday savings to send away for college-admissions materials, which she has cherished “like secret and holy things” and stowed carefully under her cot.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
Lithium batteries must be stowed in carry-on baggage only, the US regulator says.
From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026
For now, Atwood’s replacement Oscars are safely stowed away.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 12, 2026
Naturally, it was stowed away in a high-limit room.
From Slate ● Nov. 18, 2025
And I know that Kate stole aboard a boxcar in Chicago, while Sticky stowed away on a river barge.
From "The Mysterious Benedict Society" by Trenton Lee Stewart
The firm has benefited from stowing away profits since the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine and doesn’t rely as heavily on debt to fund its trades as some rivals.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 12, 2026
Resources are also being used to try to prevent migrants stowing away on cross-channel freight.
From BBC ● Mar. 13, 2026
By day, they collected healthy spruce tree leaves and fresh mosses and lichens from the ground, stowing their scientific treasure in zip-close bags as they went.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 20, 2024
If a few passengers dawdle while stowing their bag and finding their seat, it can make the difference between a flight being on time or late in the government’s official statistics.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 19, 2023
Harry, Ron, and Hermione set off to find seats, and were soon stowing their luggage in a compartment halfway along the train.
From "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire" by J. K. Rowling
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.
