▪ I. mow, n.1
(maʊ)
Forms: 1 m{uacu}ᵹa, m{uacu}ha, m{uacu}wa, 3 moue, muȝe, 3–7 mowe, 4 mou, 4, 7, 8 mough, 5 moghe, mughe, 6 moowe, mowgh(e, 8 maw, 9 dial. mew, moo, mow, 5– mow.
[OE. m{uacu}ᵹa, m{uacu}wa, m{uacu}ha wk. masc., corresponding to ON. m{uacu}ge swath, also crowd of people (in the latter sense also m{uacu}g-r str. masc.; cf. MSw. moghe masc., multitude, Sw. dial. muga, muva fem., heap, Norw. muga, mua, mue fem., heap, muge masc., heap, crowd). The word also exists in the compound ON. alm{uacu}ge, alm{uacu}g-r (MSw. almoghe, -mogher, Sw. allmoge, Da. almue), common people.
Evidence that the word existed in some other Teut. lang. may possibly be afforded by Sp. muga landmark, pile (so app. med.L. muga from Spain), which, however, some scholars assert to be from Basque; and med.L. mugium haystack (one example from Italy dated 1334). The conjecture that the first element in OHG., MHG. mûwerf mouldwarp represents this word is very doubtful.
In England now mainly dialectal; in the U.S. it seems to be general.]
1. A stack of hay, corn, beans, peas, etc.; also, a heap of grain or hay in a barn. Cf. hay-mow.
| c 725 Corpus Gloss. (Hessels) A 108 Aceruus, muha. c 1000 ælfric Exod. xxii. 6 ᵹif fyr bærne muᵹan oððe standende æceras. c 1050 Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 348/6 Aceruum, muwan. c 1205 Lay. 29280, I þan eouesen he [sc. þa sparwen] grupen swa heo duden in þen muȝen. a 1300 Cursor M. 6760 If fire be kyndeld and ouertak Thoru feld, or corn, or mou, or stak. 1375 Barbour Bruce iv. 117 He tuk a culter hat glowand, That het wes in a fyre byrnand...And heych vpon a mow [it] did. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. iv. i. (1495) 77 As it faryth in a wete mough of whete. a 1400–50 Alexander 4434 Þan as a Mare at a moghe ȝoure mawis ȝe fill. c 1470 Henry Wallace xi. 339 A mow off corn he biggit thaim about. 1483 Cath. Angl. 245/2 A Mughe, archonicus. 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. 25 For and it sweate not in the heycockes it wyll sweate in the mowe. 1539 Knaresborough Wills (Surtees) I. 58 The value of a mowghe of hay. 1573 Tusser Husb. (1878) 131 In gouing at haruest, learne skilfully how ech graine for to laie by it selfe on a mow. 1609 Holland Amm. Marcell. 220 The whole mow or stacke being shaken was borne downe. 1718 Ramsay Christ's Kirk Gr. iii. xxi, But Lawrie he took out his nap Upon a mow o' pease. 1794 Billingsley Agric. Surv. Somerset (1797) 310 It is very difficult to keep the mows on stadles free from them [sc. rats and mice]. 1844 Stephens Bk. Farm II. 264 To pile up the sheaves as they are brought in into what are called mows, that is, the sheaves are placed in rows. 1862 Longfellow Wayside Inn, Prel. 28 The barns display..their mows of hay. 1896 Daily News 19 Sept. 2/5 The stooks, locally called mows, present a mass of green shoots. |
2. A place in a barn where hay or corn is heaped up.
| 1755 Johnson, Mow, a loft or chamber where hay or corn is laid up. 1856 G. Henderson Pop. Rhymes Berwick 91 They were engaged in carrying his corn from the stack in the barn-yard to the mow in the barn. 1884 W. Sussex Gaz. 25 Sept., Good spacious barn, asphalte floor, and mow. |
† 3. A heap or pile; also, a heap of earth, a mound, hillock. Obs.
| 1424 in Picton L'pool Munic. Rec. (1883) I. 23 On a mow within the said town we saw the said Sir Richard. 1513 Douglas æneis iv. ix. 69 Abufe the mowe the foirsaid bed was maid. 1681 W. Robertson Phraseol. Gen. (1693) 899 A mow or heap, strues. |
4. attrib. and Comb.: mow-breast, mow-maker, mow-side, mow-stack, mow-yard; mow-barton, a stackyard; † mow-floor, the floor of a barn in which hay or corn is stored; mow-heat, a disease of hay or corn caused by overheating and fermenting in the mow; mow-staddle, ‘the framework or stone upon which a stack is built’ (Eng. Dial. Dict.); mowstead, (a) the place where the rick stands; the stand or supports which raise the rick from the ground; (b) a bay or division between the threshing-floor and the end of the barn; (c) a mass of hay or corn filling such a bay.
| 1789 Trans. Soc. Arts, etc. VII. 12 For [the] Fence of a *Maw-Barton on the same Farm. 1895 W. Raymond Tryphena in Love i. 8 He looked upon..the cow-stalls and mow⁓barton full of yellow stacks. |
| 1641 Best Farm. Bks. (Surtees) 75 Putte them into the hey-house, and lette them lye att the *mowe-brest all night. |
| 1868 Rep. U.S. Commissioner Agric. (1869) 424 Making chimneys, so to speak, in the mow, by putting barrels on the *mow floor and drawing them up as the hay was stowed about them. |
| 1896 P. A. Bruce Econ. Hist. Virginia I. 453 Spontaneous combustion, *mowheat, and the depreciation resulting from the entrance of sea water. |
| 1766 Chron. in Ann. Reg. IX. 117/2 Let the *mow-maker be provided with a quantity of salt. |
| 1865 Mrs. Whitney Gayworthys I. 240 Wealthy tossed down great trusses of hay to them from the *mowside. |
| 1894 Blackmore Perlycross 368 *Mowstack and oak-wood, farm⁓house and abbey. |
| 1235–53 Rentalia Glaston. (Som. Rec. Soc.) 140 Et debet habere *mugstathel et unum sedlep plenum de frumente. |
| 1530 Will T. Tubbe of E. Challow, Berks, So that shoe have my parlor & the over-chambre unto hir use w{supt}{suph} a *mowsted in the north ende of my barne. 1629 Inventory in Best's Farm. Bks. (Surtees) 110 A piece of a mewstead of wheate and maslin unthresht 6 l. 1833 Loudon Encycl. Archit. §889 Along the sides of the threshing-floor are what are called mowsteads. |
| 1869 Blackmore Lorna D. xxxix, And here was our own *mowyard better filled than we could remember. |
▪ II. mow, n.2
(maʊ, məʊ)
Forms: 4 mouwe, 4–6 mowe, 5 mawe, 6 mew, 6–7 moe. Pl. 6 moues, -is, mowis, 6–8 mows, 6–7 mowes, 6, 9 mous, mowse.
[a. OF. moe, moue mouth, lip, pout (mod.F. moue pouting grimace), of obscure origin; or perh. a. MDu. mouwe of the same meaning.
The MDu. word is prob. from OFr.; some, however, think that it was the source, regarding it as a special use of mouwe thick flesh (mow n.4), from which sense the senses ‘thick lip’, ‘pout’ are assumed to have been developed.
In England the word has little colloquial currency, and the pronunciation is uncertain. The British Dicts. give (maʊ), the recent U.S. Dicts. (moʊ). In Scotland, where the word is still in use, the sound is (mʌu).]
1. A grimace; esp., a derisive grimace.
| c 1325 Poems Times Edw. II 348 in Pol. Songs (Camden) 339 He makketh the a mouwe. c 1374 Chaucer Troylus iv. Prol. 7 And when a wight is from hire whiel Ithrowe, Than laugheth she and maketh hym þe mowe. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 32 Wherof bejaped with a mowe He goth. a 1400–50 Alexander 4728 Þan stode þai glorand on his gome with grisely mawis. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 346/1 Mowe, or skorne, vangia, vel valgia. 1484 Caxton Curiall 4 The man that hath grete corage & vertuous mespriseth her lawhynges and mowes. 1535 Coverdale Ps. xxxiv. 15 Yee y⊇ very lame come together agaynst me vnawarres, makynge mowes at me, & ceasse not. 1581 G. Pettie tr. Guazzo's Civ. Conv. iii. (1586) 170 [They] will not stick to make moes at their maister behinde his back. 1611 Shakes. Cymb. i. vi. 41 Apes, and Monkeys 'Twixt two such she's would chatter this way, and Contemne with mowes the other. 1660 F. Brooke tr. Le Blanc's Trav. 333 One that we preserved alive was quite amazed, and made us good laughing, with his mows and monkey faces. 1794 Godwin Cal. Williams 80 By that devil that..made mows and mocking at his insufferable tortures. 1808 Lamb Let. to Manning 26 Feb., A sort of a frantic yell,..with roaring sometimes, like bears, mows and mops like apes. 1847 Lytton Lucretia ii. vii, Bob grinned, made a mow at Mr. Grabman, and scampered up the stairs. |
b. In phrases mops and mows (see mop n.3), mocks and mows, mows and mocks.
| 1508 Kennedie Flyting w. Dunbar 353 In to thy mowis and mokis, It may be verifeit that thy wit is thin. 1602 W. Fulbecke 1st Pt. Parall. 71 Things must be recompenced with things... And wordes with wordes, and taunts with mockes, and mowes. 1681 W. Robertson Phraseol. Gen. (1693) 898 Mocks and mows with the mouth, sannæ. |
2. Sc. † a. A jest. Obs.
| c 1450 Holland Howlat 831 The fulis fonde in the flet, And mony mowis at mete On the flure maid. 1501 Douglas Pal. Hon. iii. xlix, And Benytas of ane mussill maid ane aip, With mony vther subtill mow and jaip. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. (Rolls) II. 375 Mony mow & knak. a 1578 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 198 Everie word was ane mow that he spak. |
b. The plural form is used (latterly without consciousness of its grammatical character) with the sense ‘jest’ (as opposed to earnest). Often predicatively (quasi-adj.), esp. in negative contexts, = ‘(no) laughing matter’, ‘(not) to be trifled with’.
| 1530 Lyndesay Test. Papyngo 71, I maid it bot in mowis. a 1550 Christis Kirke Gr. 155 The millar wes of manly mak, To meit him wes na mowis. a 1578 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 175 My lordis, is it mowse or earnest? 1728 Ramsay Archers diverting themselves 156 Or in earnest, or in mows, Be still successful. 1877 G. Macdonald Mrq. Lossie lvii, Juist tak tent the morn what ye say whan Jean's i' the room..for she's no mowse. 1888 Barrie Auld Licht Idylls xii, Its not mous to be out at such a time. |
▪ III. mow, n.3 dial.
East Anglian var. of maw n.3, a gull.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 346/1 Mowe, byrd, or semewe. a 1490 Botoner Itin. (1778) 111 Et ibi nidificant aves vocatæ ganettys, gullys, see mowys, et cæteræ aves marinæ. 1893 Broad Norfolk (ed. Cozens–Hardy) 49 Mow, Gull (in general). |
▪ IV. † mow, n.4 Sc. Obs.
[App. a var. of moll, mull n.1]
Dust, mould.
| c 1470 Henryson Mor. Fab. viii. (Preach. Swallow) xliii, Like to the mow before the face of wind Quhiskis away, and makis wratchis blind. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. (Rolls) II. 79 For-quhy that wall wes nocht biggit with lyme, Bot with dry mow that wes of lytill effect. |
▪ V. † mow, n.5 Obs. rare—1.
[a. MDu. mouwe = mod.G. maue.]
Fleshy part, muscle.
| c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon vii. 173 Mawgys..cam to bayarde, and bounde hym the mowes of the feete there wyth all well streyghte. |
▪ VI. mow, n.6
(məʊ)
[f. mow v.1 3 d.]
In Cricket, a sweeping stroke to leg.
| 1925 D. J. Knight in Country Life 15 Aug. 244/1 Leg-side shots. They are the glides,..the mow and the pull. 1926 J. B. Hobbs Test Match Surprise xvi. 171 What he intended for a leg glance was nothing more than a ‘mow’ between square leg and mid-on. |
Substitute for etym.: [f. mow v.1] b. An act or instance of mowing something, esp. a lawn. colloq.
| 1975 Times 10 Apr. 11/4 The inclement weather..has enabled me to put off..the first mow of the lawn. 1987 S. Oxf. Courier 16 Apr. 17/3 Never be tempted to cut off more than one third of the length of the grass in one mow as it weakens the growth. 1989 Daily Tel. 1 May 20/2 Giving the lawn its first mow of the season. |
▪ VII. mow, v.1
(məʊ)
Forms: 1–2 máwan, 2–4 mowen, 3 meowen, mewen, mouin, 3–8 mowe, 5–9 dial. maw(e, 7 mough, 6– mow. pa. tense 5, 8 (9 dial.) mew(e, 8– mowed. pa. pple. 1 máwen, 5 mowe, 5–7 mowen, 6 mowne, 8 Sc. mawn, 6– mowed, 7– mown.
[A Com. WGer. (orig. reduplicating) verb: OE. máwan (pa. tense *méow, pa. pple. máwen); in the other langs. conjugated weak: OFris. mêa, MLG. meien, MDu. maeien (Du. maaien), OHG. mâen (MHG. mæjen, mod.G. mähen); from LG. are Sw. meja, Da. meie. The root, OTeut. *mǣ-, pre-Teut. *mē-, occurs in mead, meadow, and in Gr. ἀµᾶν to reap; an extended form is found in L. mēt-ĕre to reap.
The pa. tense is now always mowed; in the pa. pple. the str. and wk. forms are both current.]
1. a. trans. To cut down (grass, corn, etc.) with a scythe, or (in recent use) with a machine that operates like a scythe. Also with away, down.
| a 900 tr. Bæda's Hist. i. i. (1890) 28 Þær næniᵹ mann for wintres cyle on sumera heᵹ ne maweþ. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 5253 Þe gode kniȝtes leye adoun as gras þat me doþ mowe. 14.. Child. Jesus 26 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1878) 111 Þen men hyre corne repyd & mew. c 1462–3 Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 269 Withe wedys, whiche must be mowen doune playne. c 1482 in Cal. Proc. Chanc. Q. Eliz. (1830) II. Pref. 69 Alianore..mewe down his corn growyng grene on the felde. 1530 Palsgr. 641/1, I mowe with a sythe, je fauche. Wyll you mowe this corne or shere it? 1607 Shakes. Cor. i. iii. 39 Like to a Haruest man, that task'd to mowe Or all, or loose his hyre. 1660 F. Brooke tr. Le Blanc's Trav. 371 They mowed green corn, to give the blades to horses. 1668 Dryden Even. Love i. ii, Our love here is like our grass, if it be not mowed quickly 'tis burnt up. 1711 Swift Jrnl. to Stella 13 May, The hay of our town is almost fit to be mowed. 1847 Marryat Childr. N. Forest v, It was time to mow down grass to make into hay for the winter. 1875 Encycl. Brit. I. 323/1 It can..be kept going sixteen hours a day, and will easily mow from 16 to 18 acres of seeds or meadow in that time. |
b. In figurative context. Now rare.
† Formerly used (instead of reap) antithetically with sow.
| c 1250 Prov. ælfred 83 in O.E. Misc. 106 Hwych so þe mon soweþ Al swuch he schal mowe. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 239 For Supplant with his slyhe cast Fulofte happneth for-to mowe Thing which an other man hath sowe. 1549 Coverdale, etc. Erasm. Par. Gal. 20 Suche seede as euery man soweth, suche shal he mowe. 1628 Wither Brit. Rememb. iii. 67 And I mow Oft times with mirth, what I in teares did sow. 1690 W. Walker Idiomat. Anglo-Lat. 305 What you sow so that you must mow. |
c. transf. and fig. To cut (off, down, etc.) with a sweeping stroke like that of a scythe; to destroy or kill indiscriminately or in great numbers. Now rare exc. with down, in reference to slaughter in battle by cannon-shot or fusillade.
| c 1430 Pilgr. Lyf Manhode ii. cl. (1869) 135 It is thilke that moweth the lyfe and the gost out of the bodi. 1513 Douglas æneis x. ix. 10 Than, as wod lyoun, ruschyt he in the fycht, And all quham he arekis nerrest hand Without reskew dovn mawis with his brand. 1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, v. vii. 4 What valiant Foe-men, like to Autumnes Corne, Haue we mow'd downe in tops of all their pride? 1609 B. Jonson Sil. Wom. iv. v, Hee has got some-bodies old two⁓hand-sword, to mow you off at the knees. 1625 Bacon Ess., Seditions (Arb.) 405 The Population of a Kingdome (especially if it be not mowen downe by warrs). 1697 Dryden æneid x. 775 He..Mows off his Head. 1720 Pope Iliad xx. 406 'Tis not in me, tho' favour'd by the Sky, To mow whole Troops, and make whole Armies fly. 1836 Alison Hist. Europe (1849–50) VII. xlii. §38. 120 The Imperial had seen 500 of its bravest sailors mowed down by the irresistible fire of the English vessels. 1884 Manch. Exam. 21 Mar. 5/1 The rifle mowed them down as they approached till not more than a score lived to reach the lines. |
2. a. To cut down the produce of (a field, etc.) with a scythe or (in recent use) with a mowing machine.
In early use always with the etymologically related mead, meadow, as cognate object.
| c 893 K. ælfred Oros. ii. viii. §2 Ᵹelice & mon mæd mawe. c 1205 Lay. 1942 Cornes heo seowen medewen heo meowen. c 1425 [see mastery 3 b]. 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §25 Whan thy medowes be mowed, they [etc.]. a 1550 Treat. Galaunt 145 in Hazl. E.P.P. III. 157 The florysshynge mede of our welth we haue begon to mawe. 1604 Dekker Honest Wh. Wks. 1873 II. 103 Are not the fields mowen and cut downe? 1664 Evelyn Kal. Hort. Apr. 65 Mow Carpet-walks. 1788 Burns Bonie Moor-Hen i, The heather was blooming, the meadows were mawn. 1871 R. Ellis Catullus lxiv. 354 As some labourer..Under a flaming sun, mows fields ripe-yellow in harvest. 1900 E. Glyn Visits Eliz. (1906) 65 He looks as quiet and respectable as the pony that mows the lawn. |
| † fig. 1711 in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 153 The Irish foot..were moweing the field of honour. |
b. transf. in jocular use: To shave.
| 1650 Bulwer Anthropomet. Pref., Here the luxuriant Chin quite down is mown. 1719 D'Urfey Pills I. 229 My Holiday Cloaths on, and face newly Mow'd. 1833 J. Holland Manuf. Metal II. 27 ‘So’, said one of the metropolitan journalists, ‘we may one day mow our beards with a relic of old London Bridge’. a 1839 Praed Poems (1864) II. 99 He..mows his beard en militaire. |
3. absol. a. To cut down grass, corn, etc., with a scythe, or (in recent use) with a mowing machine.
| a 1100 Gerefa in Anglia (1886) IX. 261 In Agusto and Septembri and Octobri mawan. 1340 Ayenb. 214 Huo þanne ssolde erye and zawe ripe and mawe. 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §22 In the later ende of Iune is tyme to begyn to mowe. 1605 Bacon Adv. Learn. i. viii. §2 Like an ill Mower, that mowes on still, and neuer whets his Syth. 1711 Swift Jrnl. to Stella 19 May, About our town we are mowing already and making hay. 1772 C. Robinson Let. to J. Grimston 19 July in Grimston Papers, My mowers the other day mew over a partridge nest with sixteen eggs. 1785 Burns Death & Dr. Hornbook viii, Friend! hae ye been mawin, When ither folk are busy sawin? 1863 A. H. Charteris Jas. Robertson iii. 48 Saying, he was going to mow. |
b. in figurative context. (Cf. 1 b.)
| c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 131 Þe ðe saweð on blescunge he scal mawen of blescunge. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 147 Hie hiden wepende and sewende, and shule cumen mid blisse and mowen. 1633 Bp. Hall Occas. Medit. (1851) 144 He, therefore, that spends his whole time in recreation, is ever whetting, never mowing. 1655 Waller Panegyric to Ld. Protector 63 Ours is the Harvest where the Indians mowe. |
c. transf. To sweep down men in battle. Hence trans. with cognate obj., to make (one's way, a passage) by ‘mowing’.
| c 1300 Havelok 1852 But thanne bigan he for to mowe With the barre, and let hem shewe, Hw he cowthe sore smite. 1678 Dryden All for Love i. i, Mow 'em out a Passage, And, entring where the foremost Squadrons yield, Begin the noble Harvest of the Field. 1757 Gray Bard 86 Long years of havock..thro' the kindred squadrons mow their way. |
d. Cricket. To make a sweeping stroke to leg as if mowing the grass with a scythe. Also trans.
| 1844 Bradford Observer 8 Aug., Holmes cleverly mowed the ball from the off stump to the leg side. 1868 J. Lillywhite Cricketers' Compan. 81 H. M. Mills..might score well if he did not think it necessary to mow at straight long-hops. 1925 D. J. Knight in Country Life 15 Aug. 245/1 Supposing there is a deep square-leg, it is better..to kneel down on your right knee and mow or drag the ball round in the direction of long-leg. |
4. Combs. containing the verb stem, as mow-land U.S., land where grass is grown for mowing; mow-lot, a plot of this land.
| 1845 S. Judd Margaret ii. i. 214 She saw..women..raking and turning hay among alders and willows that yet flourished in their best mow-lands. 1874 Rep. Vermont Board Agric. II. 411 The breeding of wrinkled sheep is like a farmer who ridges up his level mow-land and seeds the ridges with an inferior grass. |
| 1845 S. Judd Margaret ii. viii. 325, I kept him here in the mow-lot. |
▪ VIII. mow, v.2 Now dial. (see E.D.D.).
(maʊ)
Also 4, 7 mowe, 5 moweye, mughe, 7 mough, moow.
[f. mow n.1]
trans. To put in mows. Also with up.
| 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. vi. 14 (MS. Vespasian B. xvi.) Canst þow..Mowe oþer mouwen [MS. Phillipps 8231 mowen, MS. Camb. Univ. Libr. muwe] oþer make bond for sheues. 14.. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 565/17 Archonizo, to moweye. 1483 Cath. Angl. 245/2 To mughe hay, archoniare, archonizere. 1609 Holland Amm. Marcell. xxiii. ii. 220 In this maner in those countries such kinds of farage are mowed up. 1620 Markham Farew. Husb. xii. 80 How to Stacke or Moow your Corne without the dores. 1764 Museum Rust. II. xxxiii. 107 Let them be thrown promiscuously into the bay of the barn, and not regularly mowed. |
▪ IX. mow, v.3
(maʊ, məʊ)
Also 5–6, 9 mowe, 6 moo, mowgh, 7, 9 moe.
[f. mow n.2]
1. intr. To make mouths or grimaces.
| c 1430 Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 255 To skoffe and mowe lyk a wantoun ape. 1522 World & Child (Roxb.) A iij, I can mowe on a man And make a lesynge well I can. 1589 R. Harvey Pl. Perc. (1590) 11 He spide a Iacke an apes, in a gaie cote, sit mooing on a Marchants bulke. 1610 Shakes. Temp. ii. ii. 9 Sometime like Apes, that moe and chatter at me, And after bite me. 1647 Trapp Comm. Heb. xi. 36 So they mowed at David. mocked at Isaiah..jeared our Saviour. 1748 Smollett Rod. Rand. lviii, A noise like that of a baboon when he mows and chatters. 1819 Shelley Peter Bell 3rd vi. xx, With Flibbertigibbet, imp of pride, Mocking and mowing by his side. 1855 J. H. Newman Callista (1890) 264 An animal of some wonderful species..proceeded to creep and crawl, moeing and twisting as it went. 1884 W. C. Smith Kildrostan 45 Every streak of mist..Pointed and mowed and mocked and laughed at him. |
† 2. Sc. a. intr. To jest. b. trans. To deride, mock. Obs.
| 1456 Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 208 He did bot scornyt the merchand, and mowit the lettres of the kingis. 1529 Lyndesay Compl. 246 Quod the thrid man; thow dois bot mow. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. (S.T.S.) v. 268 The king mowit verie oft with him. |
▪ X. † mow, v.4
Also 7 mowe.
[Echoic.]
= moo v.
| 1603 Holland Plutarch's Mor. 4 Brute and wilde beasts, which hardly are parted from their companie,..but still they lowe and mowe after them. 1641 J. Jackson True Evang. T. ii. 112 S. Luke..an Oxe indeed,..that he did mow and low the Gospel abroad over all the world. |
Hence ˈmowing vbl. n. Also ˈmower, a cow.
| 1556 Withals Dict. (1568) 16 a/1 The mowynge or lowynge of beastes, mugitus. 1578 Best in Hakluyt's Voy. (1600) III. 63 Making great noise, with cries like the mowing of Buls. a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Mower, a Cow. |
▪ XI. mow
obs. form of may v.1
▪ XII. mow
var. mou.