bow

Pluralbows

Formsbows, bowing, bowed

1. 1
   ribbon knotnouncountable

   A double-looped knot used to tie two cords together, as when lacing shoes or fastening an apron, and often made as decoration, for example on a gift.

   The ribbon was tied into a perfect bow on top of the box.

   Her apron strings were fastened with a loose bow at the back.

   UsageSounds like go; the bow of bending forward sounds like cow. You tie a ribbon in a bow.

2. 2
   weaponnouncountable

   A weapon made of a curved piece of wood or other flexible material with a string joining its ends, used to shoot arrows.

   The archer drew her bow and let the arrow fly toward the distant target.

   Skilled craftsmen shaped bows from single staves of yew.

   UsageSounds like go. An archer draws a bow and shoots arrows from it; the pair is bow and arrow.

3. 3
   USUKBOW/baʊ/

   bend at waistverbintransitive

   To bend the body or head forward as a gesture of respect or deference.

   Visitors bow when they enter the temple.

   She bowed deeply before the queen.

   Similarbend, stoop, kowtow, genuflect

4. 4
   USUKBOW/baʊ/

   ship's frontnouncountable

   The front section of a boat or ship.

   The bow of the ship sliced cleanly through the swells.

   Spray flew from the bow as the vessel picked up speed.

   UsageRhymes with cow. The plural the bows can mean the same part; the opposite end is the stern.

   Similarprow, stem, fore

   Oppositestern, aft

   Note

   Seafaring English took this word from Middle Low German or Middle Dutch, and its deeper root means "arm." The same root gave bough, so a ship's front and a tree's branch are doublets. Its partners are prow, stem and fore, and its opposites are stern, aft and poop. Harold Bindloss's The Dust of Conflict (1907) shows a schooner's "dipping bows." Source

   Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 6 facts

   • The nautical word was borrowed from Middle Low German or Middle Dutch. en.wiktionary.org
   • Its ultimate root means “arm.” en.wiktionary.org
   • Nautical bow and bough share an origin and are doublets. en.wiktionary.org
   • Harold Bindloss wrote The Dust of Conflict. gutenberg.org
   • The Dust of Conflict was first published in 1907. gutenberg.ca
   • The opened 1907 edition reads “dipping bows,” in the plural, in the narrator's description of the schooner Ventura. gutenberg.org
5. 5
   USUKBOW/baʊ/

   nouncountable

   An act of lowering the head or bending the upper body forward from the waist, typically as a sign of respect.

   He greeted the visiting dignitary with a low bow.

   A respectful bow marks the beginning of each judo match.

   Similarobeisance, nod

   Note

   Despite the identical spelling, it springs from the bending verb, not from the weapon or the knot. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

   • The noun for a respectful inclination belongs to the bending verb's etymological family, rather than deriving from the weapon or knot noun. en.wiktionary.org
6. 6
   USUKBOW/baʊ/

   give inverbintransitive

   To yield or submit to something, such as authority, pressure, or another person's wishes.

   The committee finally bowed to mounting public criticism.

   Politicians often bow to the wishes of powerful donors.

   UsageFollowed by to: bow to pressure, bow to public opinion. I bow to your better judgment politely gives way.

   Similaryield, submit, succumb, defer, capitulate

   Oppositeresist, defy, withstand

   Note

   A gesture turned into a concession: the body's bow of respect or deference becomes a way of yielding a point. Source

   Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

   • A bodily bow can express respect or deference. en.wiktionary.org
7. 7
   violin sticknouncountable

   A rod with horsehair, or an artificial substitute, stretched between its ends, used to play stringed instruments.

   The violinist drew her bow smoothly across the strings.

   He rubbed rosin along the bow before the concert.

   UsageSounds like go, like the knot, not like bending forward.

   Note

   A musician's tool that shares the weapon's principle of hair or cord held taut between the ends of a rod. Players rub it with rosin and draw it across the strings, and the verb for playing this way comes straight from it. Keep it distinct from the musical bow, an instrument in its own right that is usually plucked rather than played with one. Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 6 facts

   • The musician's bow has hair stretched between the ends of a rod. en.wiktionary.org
   • The weapon likewise has a flexible body whose ends are connected by a string. en.wiktionary.org
   • Players apply rosin to the bow hair. yamaha.com
   • Players draw the bow across an instrument's strings. en.wikipedia.org
   • The musical verb bow derives directly from the noun naming the implement. cdn.wildapricot.com
   • The musical bow is a separate instrument, usually plucked, although it can also be bowed. en.wikipedia.org
8. 8
   play stringsverbtransitive or intransitive

   To play a stringed instrument by drawing a bow across its strings.

   The violinist bowed each note with careful precision.

   Players bow the lowest string to produce a deep, resonant tone.

   Oppositepluck

   Note

   The verb is made from the violinist's bow: to bow a violin is to draw that bow across its strings. Its natural contrast is plucking, the other way of sounding the same strings. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • Bowing a violin involves drawing a bow across its strings. en.wikipedia.org
   • The same strings can also be sounded by plucking. en.wikipedia.org
9. 9
   arcnouncountable

   Anything bent or curved in shape, such as a rainbow or a bend in a river.

   A perfect bow of light arched across the clouds after the storm.

   Just past the old mill, the stream curves in a wide bow toward the lake.

   UsageSounds like go, as in rainbow.

   Similararc, curve, arch, bend

   Note

   The King James Bible of 1611 gives the classic case: "I do set my bow in the cloud," where the word means the rainbow itself. Rainbow is simply this sense with its setting spelled out. The word still serves for any arch, of light or of stone, whose curve is the point. Source

   Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

   • The King James Bible's first edition appeared in 1611. wwwe.lib.cam.ac.uk
   • The quoted wording appears in Genesis 9:13, spoken by God. en.wikisource.org
   • The bow in the biblical passage is a rainbow. en.wikisource.org
   • Rainbow can be analysed as rain plus bow meaning an arch. en.wiktionary.org
10. 10
    curveverbintransitive

    To bend into a curve, or to make something do so.

    Wooden boards bow when they absorb too much moisture.

    The thin metal bowed under the heavy load.

    UsageSounds like go. Things bow under a weight: the shelves bowed under the books.

    Similarbend, warp, buckle, curve, sag

    Oppositestraighten

11. 11
    USUKBOW/baʊ/

    debutverbtransitive or intransitive

    To make a first public appearance, or to present something publicly for the first time.

    Major films often bow at international festivals before their wide release.

    The network will bow its new medical drama in September, at the start of the fall season.

    Similardebut, premiere, open, launch, release

    Note

    Show-business shorthand for opening: Bruce Cassiday's Dinah! (1979) has a show that "bowed in the first week of December, 1951." The image is the performer's bow before an audience. Most often the production is the subject, as when a musical bows on a new stage. Used transitively, a studio or producer bows the work. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

    • Bruce Cassiday wrote Dinah!: A Biography, first published in 1979. openlibrary.org
    • The book contains the quoted wording about a show's opening. en.wiktionary.org

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