Adjacent Words

Harrow definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

HAR'ROW, n. An instrument of agriculture, formed of pieces of timber sometimes crossing each other, and set with iron teeth. It is drawn over plowed land to level it and break the clods, and to cover seed when sown.
HAR'ROW, v.t. To draw a harrow over, for the purpose of breaking clods and leveling the surface, or for covering seed sown; as, to harrow land or ground.
1. To break or tear with a harrow.
Will he harrow the valleys after thee? Job 39
2. To tear; to lacerate; to torment.
I could a tale unfold, whose lightest word
Would harrow up thy soul--
3. To pillage; to strip; to lay waste by violence. [Not used.]
4. To disturb; to agitate.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a cultivator that pulverizes or smooths the soil v
1: draw a harrow over (land) [syn: harrow, disk]

Merriam Webster's

geographical name borough of NW Greater London, England population 194,300

Merriam Webster's

I. transitive verb Etymology: Middle English harwen, from Old English hergian Date: before 12th century archaic pillage, plunder II. noun Etymology: Middle English harwe; akin to Old Norse hervi harrow, Middle Dutch harke rake Date: 14th century a cultivating implement set with spikes, spring teeth, or disks and used primarily for pulverizing and smoothing the soil III. transitive verb Date: 14th century 1. to cultivate with a harrow 2. torment, vex • harrower noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. a heavy frame with iron teeth dragged over ploughed land to break up clods, remove weeds, cover seed, etc. --v.tr. 1 draw a harrow over (land). 2 (usu. as harrowing adj.) distress greatly. Derivatives: harrower n. harrowingly adv. Etymology: ME f. ON hervi

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Harrow Har"row, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Harrowed; p. pr. & vb. n. Harrowing.] [OE. harowen, harwen; cf. Dan. harve. See Harrow, n.] 1. To draw a harrow over, as for the purpose of breaking clods and leveling the surface, or for covering seed; as, to harrow land. Will he harrow the valleys after thee? --Job xxxix. 10. 2. To break or tear, as with a harrow; to wound; to lacerate; to torment or distress; to vex. My aged muscles harrowed up with whips. --Rowe. I could a tale unfold, whose lightest word Would harrow up thy soul. --Shak.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Harrow Har"row (h[a^]r"r[-o]), n. [OE. harowe, harwe, AS. hearge; cf. D. hark rake, G. harke, Icel. herfi harrow, Dan. harve, Sw. harf. [root]16.] 1. An implement of agriculture, usually formed of pieces of timber or metal crossing each other, and set with iron or wooden teeth. It is drawn over plowed land to level it and break the clods, to stir the soil and make it fine, or to cover seed when sown. 2. (Mil.) An obstacle formed by turning an ordinary harrow upside down, the frame being buried. Bush harrow, a kind of light harrow made of bushes, for harrowing grass lands and covering seeds, or to finish the work of a toothed harrow. Drill harrow. See under 6th Drill. Under the harrow, subjected to actual torture with a toothed instrument, or to great affliction or oppression.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Harrow Har"row, interj. [OF. harau, haro; fr. OHG. hara, hera, herot, or fr. OS. herod hither, akin to E. here.] Help! Halloo! An exclamation of distress; a call for succor;-the ancient Norman hue and cry. ``Harrow and well away!'' --Spenser. Harrow! alas! here lies my fellow slain. --Chaucer.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Harrow Har"row, v. t. [See Harry.] To pillage; to harry; to oppress. [Obs.] --Spenser. Meaning thereby to harrow his people. --Bacon

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(harrows) A harrow is a piece of farm equipment consisting of a row of blades fixed to a heavy frame. When it is pulled over ploughed land, the blades break up large lumps of soil. N-COUNT

Easton's Bible Dictionary

(Heb. harits), a tribulum or sharp threshing sledge; a frame armed on the under side with rollers or sharp spikes (2 Sam. 12:31; 1 Chr. 20:3).

Heb. verb _sadad_, to harrow a field, break its clods (Job 39:10; Isa. 28:4; Hos. 10: 11). Its form is unknown. It may have resembled the instrument still in use in Egypt.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

har'-o (sadhadh): Sadhadh occurs in 3 passages (Job 39:10; Isa 28:24; Ho 10:11). In the first 2 it is translated "harrow," in the last "break the clods." That this was a separate operation from plowing, and that it was performed with an instrument drawn by animals, seems certain. As to whether it corresponded to our modern harrowing is a question. The reasons for this uncertainty are:

(1) the ancient Egyptians have left no records of its use;

(2) at the present time, in those parts of Palestine and Syria where foreign methods have not been introduced, harrowing is not commonly known, although the writer has been told that in some districts the ground is leveled after plowing with the threshing-sledge or a log drawn by oxen. Cross-plowing is resorted to for breaking up the lumpy soil, especially where the ground has been baked during the long rainless summer. Lumps not reduced in this way are further broken up with a hoe or pick. Seed is always sown before plowing, so that harrowing to cover the seed is unnecessary. See AGRICULTURE. Figuratively used of affliction, discipline, etc. (Isa 28:24).

James A. Patch

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. 1. Draw a harrow over, till with a harrow. 2. Lacerate, tear, rend, wound, torment, torture, harass.

Moby Thesaurus

afflict, agonize, ail, backset, badger, bait, bedevil, bite, bloody, burn, chafe, claw, cog, comb, convulse, crag, crucify, cultivate, culture, cut, dab, delve, devil, dig, distress, drag, dress, dub, equalize, even, excruciate, fallow, fang, fertilize, fester, flatten, force, fret, gall, give pain, gnaw, grade, grate, grease, grind, gripe, heckle, hector, hoe, hurt, impale, inflame, inflict pain, irritate, jag, kill by inches, lacerate, lancinate, lay, level, list, lubricate, macerate, martyr, martyrize, mow, mulch, needle, nip, oil, pain, peak, pecten, pester, pierce, pinch, plane, planish, plaster, plow, prick, projection, prolong the agony, prune, punish, put to torture, rack, rake, rankle, rasp, ratchet, rip, rub, savage, sawtooth, scarify, shave, smooth, smooth down, smooth out, snag, snaggle, spade, spire, sprocket, spur, stab, steeple, sting, tantalize, tease, thin, thin out, till, till the soil, tooth, torment, torture, try, tweak, twist, weed, weed out, work, wound, wring