# cow

Pronunciation: say "KOW" /kaʊ/

## Noun

1. A large domestic animal kept for milk or beef, strictly a fully grown female that has had a calf, but loosely any cattle, or a similar animal such as a yak or buffalo. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: A large farm animal kept for milk or meat. Strictly it is the female, but it is often used for any cattle.
   - _He pointed at the field and said all those cows were his._
   - _A cow had broken through the fence and was grazing in the neighbor's garden._
3. The female of a large mammal species other than domestic cattle, including other bovines, moose, whales, seals, hippos, rhinos, manatees, and elephants.
   - Simple: The female of some large animals besides farm cattle, such as elephants, whales, moose, and seals.
   - _A cow moose led her calf across the frozen river._
   - _Biologists fitted a satellite tag to a humpback cow traveling with her calf off the coast._
4. An insulting term for a woman regarded as unpleasant, especially one thought nasty, stupid, fat, lazy, or difficult. *(colloquial, Ireland, UK)*
   - Simple: A rude, insulting word for a woman seen as nasty, stupid, lazy, or hard to deal with.
   - _He muttered that his landlady was a miserable old cow._
   - _Stop being a cow and let your sister have a turn._
6. An unusually large fish for its species, such as a big striped bass or bluefin tuna. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A very big fish for its kind, like a huge bass or tuna.
   - _The angler fought the cow for nearly an hour before reeling it in._
   - _Veterans on the boat swapped stories about the cows they had hooked offshore._

## Verb

2. To intimidate someone into submission, breaking down their spirit or courage.
   - Simple: To frighten someone so much that they lose their courage.
   - _The dictator used fear to cow his critics into silence._
   - _Aggressive landlords often cow tenants who do not know their rights._

## Noun

5. The meat of cattle prepared and eaten as food, otherwise known as beef. *(rare)*
   - Simple: The meat from cattle, eaten as food.
   - _We bought a few choice cuts of cow to throw on the grill._
   - _That's a lot of cow for one burger!_

## Other meanings

- (noun) A third-year cadet at the United States Military Academy at West Point.
- (noun) In mining, a chock: a wedge or brake used to stop a machine or a mine car from moving.
- (noun) A chimney cowl: a hood or cover fitted over a chimney top to improve draft and keep out rain.
- (noun) A luminous fast blue optical transient: a rare, extremely bright astronomical flash that brightens and fades very quickly.

## Origin

**Meanings 1, 3–6** — Inherited from Middle English cow, from Old English cū, from Proto-Germanic *kōz, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷṓws ("cow"). It is related to words like German Kuh, Dutch koe, Latin bōs, and Ancient Greek boûs, and is a doublet of beef.
**Meaning 2** — Most likely it comes from the Old Norse verb kúga, "to oppress." Norwegian and Danish kue share that origin, and Swedish kuva and the Faroese verb kúga, with the same meaning, can be compared.

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