bow¹ /bow/

1. To bend
2. To bend the neck or body in greeting, acknowledging a compliment, etc
3. To submit (to)

1. To bend or incline downwards
2. To crush down
3. To usher with a bow
4. To express by a bow

A bending of the neck or body as a formal or respectful greeting, or to acknowledge applause, etc

bowed /bowd/ adjective

Bent forward

a bowing acquaintance

A slight acquaintance

bow and scrape

To kowtow, to ingratiate oneself sycophantically

bow in

To make a first appearance in public

bow out

To withdraw or retire from a place, situation, etc

make one's bow

1. To retire ceremoniously
2. To leave the stage

take a bow

To acknowledge applause or recognition

bow² /bō/

1. A piece of flexible wood or other material for shooting arrows, bent by means of a string stretched between its ends
2. Anything of a bent or curved shape, such as the rainbow
3. A bow-shaped strip for collecting current from an overhead wire (elec eng)
4. A yoke (Shakespeare)
5. A rod (orig curved but now nearly straight) strung with horsehair, by which the strings of a violin, etc are played
6. A ring of metal forming a handle
7. The frame surrounding the lenses, or the curved end of the leg of spectacles (US)
8. A bowknot
9. A looped knot of ribbons
10. A bow tie
11. A single movement (up or down) or stroke of the bow in playing an instrument

To handle the bow in playing

1. To play (an instrument) with a bow
2. To mark (for stringed instruments) which notes should be played downbow and which upbow

bowˈing noun

1. The technique of playing a stringed instrument with a bow
2. The marking of the upbows and downbows

bowˈyer noun

1. A bowman
2. A maker of bows for archery

bowˈ-backed adjective

With bent back

bowˈbent adjective (Milton)

Bent like a bow

bowˈ-boy noun

1. A boy archer
2. Cupid (Shakespeare)

bowˈ-compasses plural noun

A small pair of compasses, often with a bow-shaped spring instead of a hinge

bowˈfin noun

A N American freshwater fish (genus Amia) of the order Holostei

bowˈ-fronted adjective

Having a convex front

bowˈ-hand noun

The hand in which the bow is held, normally in archery, the left, in stringed instrument-playing, the right

bowˈhead noun

An Arctic right whale (Balaena mysticetus), with a large head and arched jaw

bowˈknot noun

A (usu decorative) knot with one or two loops

bow leg noun

A bandy leg like a bow

bowˈ-legged /-legd or -leg-id/ adjective

bowˈman noun

An archer

bowˈsaw noun

1. A saw with a narrow blade stretched like a bowstring in a strong bow-shaped frame (also logˈ-saw)
2. A saw with a narrow blade stretched in an H-shaped frame and held taut by tightening a cord at the opposite end of the frame

bowˈshot noun

The distance to which an arrow can be shot from a bow

bowˈstring noun

1. The string by which a bow is drawn
2. A string with which the Turks strangled offenders (historical)
3. A horizontal tie on a bridge or girder

transitive verb (pat and pap bowˈstringed, sometimes bowˈstrung)

To strangle with a bowstring

adjective

Of, for or having a bowstring

bowˈstring-hemp noun

The genus Sansevieria or its fibre

bow tie noun

A necktie tied in a two-looped bowknot, often for formal wear

bowˈ-tied adjective

Wearing a bow tie

bow window noun

1. A window projecting in a curve
2. A pot-belly (obs sl)

bow-winˈdowed adjective

draw the long bow

To make extravagant statements

on the bow hand

Wide of the mark

two strings to one's bow

An alternative in reserve

bow³ /bow/

1. The forepart of a ship or boat, often used in pl, the ship, etc being considered to have starboard and port bows, meeting at the stem
2. The rower nearest the bow (rowing)

bowˈer or bowˈer-anchor noun

An anchor at the bow (best-bower and small-bower)

bowˈman noun

The rower nearest the bow

bowˈ-oar noun

The oar nearest the bow

bowˈ-side noun (rowing)

The rowers on the same side as bow

bow wave noun

1. The wave created by the bow of a moving vessel
2. A shock wave (figurative)

bold or bluff bow

A broad bow

lean bow

A narrow bow

on the (port or starboard) bow

Within 45º (to port or starboard) of the point right ahead

• prolificacy
• prolifical
• prolifically
• prolification
• prolifications
• prolificities
• prolificity
• prolificness
• prolificnesses
• proline
• obtruders
• obtrudes
• obtruding
• obtrudings
• obtruncate
• obtruncated
• obtruncates
• obtruncating
• obtrusion
• obtrusions
• obtrusive
• obtrusively
• obtrusiveness
• obtrusivenesses
• obtund