bow

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   front part of a vessel or aircraft

   The coxswain sat in the bow of the boat urging the team toward the finish line.

2. 2
   verb

   to yield to another's wish or opinion

   The government bowed to the military pressure.

3. 3
   verb

   to bend one's knee or body, or lower one's head

   They bowed before the monarch.

4. 4
   verb

   to play on a string instrument with a bow

   I bowed the violin pleasantly by the fireplace.

5. 5
   verb

   to bend the head or the upper part of the body in a gesture of respect or greeting

   They bowed before the monarch.

6. 6
   verb

   to bend one's back forward from the waist on down

   I bowed when the Queen walked through.

7. 7
   noun

   A weapon made of a curved piece of wood or other flexible material whose ends are connected by a string, used for shooting arrows.

   Holonym: bow and arrow

8. 8
   noun

   Anything bent or curved, such as a rainbow.

   I do set my bow in the cloud.

Etymology

PIE word *bʰeh₂ǵʰús From Middle English bowe, bowgh, a borrowing from Middle Low German bôch and/or Middle Dutch boech, from Proto-Germanic *bōguz, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂ǵʰus (“arm”). Doublet of bough. Cognates Cognate with Dutch boeg (“bow”), German Bug (“bow, prow (of a ship); shoulder joint (of an animal)”), Luxembourgish Buch, Bou (“shoulder joint (of an animal)”), Danish bov (“bow”), Icelandic bógur (“bow”), Norwegian Bokmål baug (“bow”), Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish bog (“bow; shoulder (of an animal)”).