# bower

Pronunciation: US say "BOW-er" /ˈbaʊɚ/; UK say "BOW-uh" /ˈbaʊə/

## Noun

1. A shady, leafy shelter or nook in a garden or in the woods.
   - Simple: A shady place in a garden or forest with leaves and branches all around it.
   - _Climbing roses had grown over the old arbor, turning that corner of the garden into a fragrant bower._
   - _The hikers rested in a leafy bower where the willows bent low over the stream._
2. A large structure of grass, twigs, and similar material, decorated with bright objects and used by a male bowerbird in courtship displays.
   - Simple: A big structure of grass and sticks, decorated with bright things, that a male bowerbird uses to attract a mate.
   - _The male spent weeks decorating his bower with blue bottle caps, berries, and feathers._
   - _Females visit several bowers before choosing a mate._
3. A bedroom or a set of private rooms, especially a woman's in a medieval castle.
   - Simple: A bedroom or private rooms, especially those of a woman living in a castle long ago.
   - _The countess withdrew to her bower in the east tower and barred the door._
   - _Visitors to the castle can climb the stairs to the lady's bower, a small room with a window over the moat._
4. A home, particularly a picturesque cottage in the countryside to which someone retreats. *(literary)*
   - Simple: A home, often a pretty little house in the country where people go to rest and get away.
   - _She retired to a rose-covered bower in the hills and lived there quietly for the rest of her life._
   - _Each summer the poet left the city for his country bower, where he wrote, slept late, and received a few close friends._
5. A type of anchor carried at a ship's bow.
   - Simple: A kind of anchor kept at the front of a ship.
   - _The crew let go the starboard bower as the ship swung into the wind._
   - _Both bowers were hauled up and secured before the ship left the harbor._
6. Either of the two highest trumps in euchre and five hundred when the joker is left out of the game.
   - Simple: In the card games euchre and five hundred, either of the two strongest trump cards when no joker is used.
   - _She led the right bower and took the trick, then followed with the left._
   - _With both bowers in his hand, he was sure his team would take the round._

## Verb

7. To enclose or shelter something, often among trees or greenery.
   - Simple: To surround or close something in, often with trees or plants.
   - _At the end of the lane sat a small stone house, bowered in old apple trees and wild roses._
   - _The chapel stood bowered in climbing roses at the edge of the village._

## Noun

8. A young hawk at the stage when it first begins to leave the nest. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A young hawk that is just starting to leave its nest.
9. A muscle that bends a limb, especially a muscle of the arm. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A muscle that bends your arm or leg, especially your arm.

## Other meanings

- (noun) A person who bows or bends, as when greeting someone or showing respect.
- (verb) To lodge, staying or living somewhere for a time.
- (noun) A peasant or farmer who lives by working the land.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–4, 7** — From Middle English bour, from Old English būr, going back through Proto-West Germanic *būr to Proto-Germanic *būrą ("room, abode"). It is related to German Bauer ("birdcage") and Old Norse búr ("storehouse, chamber").
**Meaning 6** — From German Bauer; a doublet of the farmer sense of bower and of the German surname Bauer.
**Meaning 5** — From the bow of a ship + -er.
**Meaning 9** — From the verb bow + -er.
**Meaning 8** — From bough + -er; compare brancher.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/bower (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).