vow
Americannoun
-
vows
plural
-
a solemn promise, pledge, or personal commitment.
marriage vows; a vow of secrecy.
-
a solemn promise made to a deity or saint committing oneself to an act, service, or condition.
-
a solemn or earnest declaration.
verb (used with object)
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vows,
present (3rd person singular)
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vowed,
past participle, past
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vowing
present participle
-
to make a vow of; promise by a vow, as to God or a saint.
to vow a crusade or a pilgrimage.
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to pledge or resolve solemnly to do, make, give, observe, etc..
They vowed revenge.
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to declare solemnly or earnestly; assert emphatically (often followed by a clause as object).
She vowed that she would take the matter to court.
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to dedicate or devote by a vow.
to vow oneself to the service of God.
verb (used without object)
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vows,
present (3rd person singular)
-
vowed,
past participle, past
-
vowing
present participle
-
to make a vow.
-
to make a solemn or earnest declaration.
idioms
noun
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a solemn or earnest pledge or promise binding the person making it to perform a specified act or behave in a certain way
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a solemn promise made to a deity or saint, by which the promiser pledges himself to some future act, course of action, or way of life
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to enter a religious order and commit oneself to its rule of life by the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, which may be taken for a limited period as simple vows or as a perpetual and still more solemn commitment as solemn vows
verb
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(tr; may take a clause as object or an infinitive) to pledge, promise, or undertake solemnly
he vowed that he would continue
he vowed to return
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(tr) to dedicate or consecrate to God, a deity, or a saint
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(tr; usually takes a clause as object) to assert or swear emphatically
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archaic (intr) to declare solemnly
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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vowsimple
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vowssimple
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have vowedperfect
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has vowedperfect
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am vowingprogressive
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are vowingprogressive
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is vowingprogressive
-
have been vowingperfect progressive
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has been vowingperfect progressive
Past
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vowedsimple
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had vowedperfect
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was vowingprogressive
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were vowingprogressive
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had been vowingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of vow
1250–1300; Middle English < Anglo-French, Old French vo ( u ) < Latin vōtum, neuter of vōtus, past participle of vovēre to vow
Explanation
To vow is to make an earnest promise or pledge. People getting married often vow to stick together “till death do us part,” while a presidential candidate might vow to lower taxes. You can use vow as both a noun and a verb: A vow is a solemn declaration; to vow is the act of making that promise. Vows are meant to be serious, sacred things, even vows made with the best intentions can be broken. Wrote American short-story writer and poet Dorothy Parker, “By the time you swear you are his, shivering and sighing, And he vows his passion is infinite and undying—Lady, make a note of this: One of you is lying.”
Vocabulary lists containing vow
Beowulf vocabulary
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Mardi Gras: Faith
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The Lemonade War
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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:
Tributes on Chinese social media revived Zhu’s most quotable lines, including his vow that he had prepared “100 coffins, 99 for corrupt officials and one for myself.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
“All current ticket holders for LA Jazz Festival events will be refunded in full within 30 days. We apologize deeply for this situation and vow to make this right over time.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
If Infantino does vow to fight on, Uefa and countries from other confederations must look to find other ways to oust him.
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
If you have $35,000 in credit-card debt, not only should you cut up your cards, you should take the pieces and burn them on a pyre and vow never to make this mistake again.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 17, 2026
After dinner, the children drifted off to their rooms with their poker faces congealed and their imposed vow of silence unbroken.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
Parton and Dean were rarely seen in public together, and renewed vows in 2016.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026
Kevin Warsh, the new chairman of the Federal Reserve, vows that he’s going to do his darndest to bring inflation back down to the central bank’s official 2% target.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026
Similarly, the Independent has the headline: "Burnham vows to be 'circuit-breaker' PM as he purges cabinet".
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
A performance from Stevie Nicks, personal vows, high school friends and a "garden inside the Garden": details are slowly emerging about Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's star-studded wedding in New York.
From Barron's ● Jul. 4, 2026
They celebrated anniversaries, regularly renewed their vows, and growled when challenged by outside forces.
From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris
Carney vowed to retaliate with dollar-for-dollar tariffs on U.S. goods, which are scheduled to go into effect on Sept. 8.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
"I am working towards being at Derry City's next home game, I have come through a lot in life and I will overcome FND," she vowed.
From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026
Authorities have vowed to tighten scrutiny of the island's tourists and crackdown on unruly foreigners.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
I vowed, as a newly single woman, that I would find someone like that.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
So I vowed to show her everything I knew.
From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan
The former Air New Zealand boss led his centre-right party to victory in the 2023 elections vowing to bring down the cost of living and reduce taxes.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
He skewers Farage, vowing not to take £5 million gifts from crypto billionaires, and spend more time in Clacton than Washington.
From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026
Union members and employee representatives last month held a series of protests against potential plant closures and job cuts, vowing to fight the overhaul plans.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
While preparing for the country’s planned celebration of its 250th birthday, Trump decided to do a little housecleaning and update the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, vowing to make it better than ever.
From Salon ● Aug. 7, 2026
After we finish using our AffloVests, Stella hangs up to give her mom a call and to check in on her friends in Cabo, vowing to call me back in time for our nighttime pills.
From "Five Feet Apart" by Rachael Lippincott
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.
