bow
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: bō
ipa: /bəʊ/
enpr: bō
ipa: /boʊ/
rhymes: -əʊ
homophone: beau
homophone: bo
Forms: form: bows
Etymology: From Middle English bowe, from Old English boga, Proto-West Germanic *bogō, from Proto-Germanic *bugô.
Cognates
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Booge (“arch, bow, curve”), West Frisian bôge (“arc, arch, bow”), Dutch boog (“arc, arch, bow”), German Bogen (“arc, arch, bow, curve”), Luxembourgish Bou (“arc, arch, bow, curve”), Vilamovian böga (“arc, arch, bend, bow, curve”), Yiddish בויגן (boygn, “arc, arch, bow, curve”), Danish bue (“arc, arch, bow, curve”), Faroese, Icelandic bogi (“arch, bow, vault”), Jamtish buga (“bow”), Norwegian Bokmål bue (“arc, arch, bow”), Norwegian Nynorsk boge (“arc, arch, bow”), Swedish båge (“bow”), Crimean Gothic boga (“bow”).
Senses: examples: text: Bows come in a variety of different shapes, sizes and cultures, and what is true of one, is not necessarily true of another, so we're gonna be stereotyping here, but, in general, a bow is a way of launching a pointy stick at somebody that you don't like.
ref: 2024 November 28, blumineck, “Fantasy vs Reality: 5 weapons that fantasy gets wrong!”, in youtube.com, retrieved 07 May 2025:
topics: archery
government
hobbies
lifestyle
martial-arts
military
politics
sports
war
glosses: A weapon made of a curved piece of wood or other flexible material whose ends are connected by a string, used for shooting arrows.
glosses: A curved bend in a rod or planar surface, or in a linear formation such as a river (see oxbow).
topics: entertainment
lifestyle
music
glosses: A rod with horsehair (or an artificial substitute) stretched between the ends, used for playing various stringed musical instruments.
glosses: A stringed instrument (chordophone), consisting of a stick with a single taut cord stretched between the ends, most often played by plucking.
glosses: A type of knot with two loops, used to tie together two cords such as shoelaces or apron strings, and frequently used as decoration, such as in gift-wrapping.
examples: text: I do set my bow in the cloud.
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 9:13:
glosses: Anything bent or curved, such as a rainbow.
glosses: The U-shaped piece which goes around the neck of an ox and fastens it to the yoke.
examples: text: […] she kept toying with a pair of old sunglasses which lay beside her on the kitchen table. One of the bows had been mended with adhesive tape, and one of the lenses was cracked.
ref: 1991, Stephen King, Needful Things:
glosses: Either of the arms of a pair of spectacles, running from the side of the lens to behind the wearer's ear.
glosses: Any instrument consisting of an elastic rod, with ends connected by a string, employed for giving reciprocating motion to a drill, or for preparing and arranging hair, fur, etc., used by hatters.
topics: nautical
transport
glosses: A crude sort of quadrant formerly used for taking the sun's altitude at sea.
glosses: Two pieces of wood which form the arched forward part of a saddle tree.
coordinate_terms: blade
glosses: The part of a key that is not inserted into the lock and that is used to turn the key.
glosses: Either of the two handles of a pair of scissors.
Synonyms: sense: bow-shaped bend
word: arc
sense: bow-shaped bend
word: bend
sense: bow-shaped bend
word: curve
sense: tool for playing stringed instruments
word: fiddlestick
sense: a type of stringed instrument
word: musical bow
Hyponyms: topics: archery
martial-arts
sports
military
war
government
politics
hobbies
lifestyle
word: composite bow
topics: archery
martial-arts
sports
military
war
government
politics
hobbies
lifestyle
word: compound bow
topics: archery
martial-arts
sports
military
war
government
politics
hobbies
lifestyle
word: crossbow
topics: archery
martial-arts
sports
military
war
government
politics
hobbies
lifestyle
word: longbow
topics: archery
martial-arts
sports
military
war
government
politics
hobbies
lifestyle
word: recurve bow
topics: archery
martial-arts
sports
military
war
government
politics
hobbies
lifestyle
word: selfbow
topics: archery
martial-arts
sports
military
war
government
politics
hobbies
lifestyle
word: shortbow
topics: archery
martial-arts
sports
military
war
government
politics
hobbies
lifestyle
word: stock-bow
topics: archery
martial-arts
sports
military
war
government
politics
hobbies
lifestyle
word: Turkish bow
Derived terms: another string to one's bow
barebow
bow and arrow
bowbearer
bowbent
bow bug
bow collector
bow compass
bow drill
bow-faced
bowfin
bow frame
bowfront
bow-fronted
bow grip
bow guard
bowguard
bow harp
bowhead
bowhunt
bowhunter
bowhunting
bowhuntress
Bow Island
bow kite
bowknot
bowleg
bow-legged
bowless
bowlike
bow maker
bowmaking
bowman
bowmanship
bowmaster
bow net
bow pen
bow pencil
Bow River
bow saw
bowshot
bowsman
bow spring
bowstave
Bow Street
bowstring
bowstringer
bow stroke
bowswoman
bowtie
bow tie
bow window
bowwoman
bowyer
Brocken bow
Broken Bow
brush bow
cloud bow
Cupid's bow
dickie bow
dicky bow
diddley bow
down bow
downbow
draw a long bow
draw the long bow
drill bow
facebow
flax bow
fogbow
fog bow
footbow
greatbow
hairbow
have two strings to one's bow
jazz bow
knuckle bow
Medicine Bow
midbow
moonbow
mouthbow
musical bow
overbow
oxbow
pelletbow
play bow
pull the long bow
pussy bow
pussycat bow
rainbow
saddlebow
saddle bow
sea-bow
shaft bow
Silver Bow
Silver Bow County
smoker's bow
spray bow
stonebow
stone bow
stretch the long bow
string to one's bow
sunbow
torrent-bow
up bow
warbow
xbow
Related terms: buxom
elbow