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Entry 8 senses · 4 variants Webster, 1913

Sow

/sou/ · IPA /saʊ/
01 v. i. To sew. See Sew.
  1. 1.
    To sew. See Sew.[Obs.] See: Sew
02 n. The female of swine, or of the hog kind.
  1. 1.
    The female of swine, or of the hog kind.(Zool.)
  2. 2.
    A sow bug.(Zool.)
  3. 3.
    A channel or runner which receives the rows of molds in the pig bed.(Metal.)
  4. 4.
    A kind of covered shed, formerly used by besiegers in filling up and passing the ditch of a besieged place, sapping and mining the wall, or the like.(Mil.)
Phrases & compounds
Sow bread — See Cyclamen.
Sow bug — any one of numerous species of terrestrial Isopoda belonging to Oniscus, Porcellio, and allied genera of the family Oniscidae. They feed chiefly on decaying vegetable substances.
Sow thistle — a composite plant (Sonchus oleraceus) said to be eaten by swine and some other animals.
03 v. t. To scatter, as seed, upon the earth; to plant by strewing; as, to sow wheat. Also used figuratively: To spread abroad; to propagate.
imp. Sowed; p. p. Sown; p. pr. & vb. n. Sowing
  1. 1.
    To scatter, as seed, upon the earth; to plant by strewing; as, to sow wheat. Also used figuratively: To spread abroad; to propagate.
    “A sower went forth to sow; and when he sowed, some seeds fell by the wayside.” — Matt. xiii. 3, 4.
    “And sow dissension in the hearts of brothers.” — Addison.
  2. 2.
    To scatter seed upon, in, or over; to supply or stock, as land, with seeds. Also used figuratively: To scatter over; to besprinkle.
    “The intellectual faculty is a goodly field, . . . and it is the worst husbandry in the world to sow it with trifles.” — Sir M. Hale.
    “[He] sowed with stars the heaven.” — Milton.
    “Now morn . . . sowed the earth with orient pearl.” — Milton.
04 v. i. To scatter seed for growth and the production of a crop; -- literally or figuratively.
  1. 1.
    To scatter seed for growth and the production of a crop; -- literally or figuratively.
    “They that sow in tears shall reap in joi.” — Ps. cxxvi. 5.