crow
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /kɹəʊ/
enpr: krō
ipa: /kɹoʊ/
rhymes: -əʊ
homophone: cro
homophone: Crow
Forms: form: crows
form: crowing
form: crowed
form: crew
form: crowed
form: crew
form: crown
Etymology: The verb is from Middle English crowen, from Old English crāwan (past tense crēow, past participle crāwen), from Proto-West Germanic *krāan, from Proto-Germanic *krēaną, from imitative Proto-Indo-European *gerH- (“to cry hoarsely”).
The noun is from Middle English crowe, from the verb.
Compare Dutch kraaien, German krähen, Lithuanian gróti, Russian гра́ять (grájatʹ)). Related to croak.
Senses: examples: text: Yet once me thought it [the ghost of Hamlet's father] was about to ſpeake, / And lifted vp his head to motion, / Like as he would ſpeake, but euen the / The morning cocke crew lowd, and in all haſte / It ſhrunke in haſte away, and vaniſhed / Our ſight.
ref: c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shake-speare, The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: […] (First Quarto), London: […] [Valentine Simmes] for N[icholas] L[ing] and Iohn Trundell, published 1603, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:
text: This is the Cock that crowed in the Morn[.]
ref: 1784, The House that Jack Built, page 8:
text: 'You are that Psyche' Cyril said again / 'The mother of the sweetest little maid, / That ever crow'd for kisses.'
ref: 1847, Alfred Tennyson, “Part II”, in The Princess: A Medley, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 37:
text: The child was at this time about ten months old, and was a strong, hearty, happy infant, always laughing when he was awake and always sleeping when he did not laugh, because his little limbs were free from pain and his little stomach was not annoyed by internal troubles. He kicked, and crowed, and sputtered, when his mother took him, and put up his little fingers to clutch her hair, and was to her as a young god upon the earth. Nothing in the world had ever been created so beautiful, so joyous, so satisfactory, so divine!
ref: 1869 May, Anthony Trollope, “Lady Milborough as Ambassador”, in He Knew He Was Right, volume I, London: Strahan and Company, […], →OCLC, page 87:
text: Hearing the miner's footsteps, the baby would put up his arms and crow.
ref: 1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, chapter III, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC, part I, page 48:
text: When your rooster crows at the break o' dawn / Look out your window and I'll be gone.
ref: 1962, Bob Dylan, “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right”, in The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan:
glosses: To make the shrill sound characteristic of a rooster; to make a sound in this manner, either in gaiety, joy, pleasure, or defiance.
examples: text: He’s been crowing all day about winning the game of cards.
text: Touting its sponsorship of local engineering and sustainability programs, Amazon crows about such “investments” as its dog park, playing fields, art installations, and Buckyball-reminiscent domical gardens.
ref: 2017 September 27, Julianne Tveten, “Zucktown, USA”, in The Baffler:
text: Another of my favorite dishes, the Asian chicken salad, was inspired by a skit by comedian Margaret Cho (“This is not the salad of my people…” she crows).
ref: 2023 October 7, Ajesh Patalay, quoting Margaret Cho, “The Naked Chef 2.0”, in FT Weekend, HTSI, page 77:
glosses: To shout in exultation or defiance; to brag.
topics: entertainment
lifestyle
music
glosses: To test the reed of a double reed instrument by placing the reed alone in the mouth and blowing it.
Derived terms: cockscrow
crower
crowingly
crow over
outcrow
overcrow