mow

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   to cut grass or a standing crop with a machine or bladed tool

   They mow the meadow only after the wildflowers have seeded.

2. 2
   verb

   to cut down or kill people or things in large numbers, often with sweeping force

   The gunfire threatened to mow down anyone crossing the square.

3. 3
   noun

   a stack of hay or a loft or part of a barn where hay is stored

   The children hid in the mow above the stable.

The verb descends from Old English mawan ("to mow, reap"), from a Germanic root with cognates in Dutch maaien and German mahen. The noun mow, pronounced to rhyme with cow, is historically separate and denotes a stack or storage place for hay.

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