Adjacent Words

kowtow definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a former Chinese custom of touching the ground with the forehead as a sign of respect or submission [syn: kowtow, kotow] v
1: bend the knees and bow in a servile manner [syn: scrape, kowtow, genuflect]
2: try to gain favor by cringing or flattering; "He is always kowtowing to his boss" [syn: fawn, toady, truckle, bootlick, kowtow, kotow, suck up]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Chinese (Beijing) kòutóu, from kòu to knock + tóu head Date: 1804 an act of kowtowing II. intransitive verb Date: 1826 1. to show obsequious deference ; fawn <kowtows to the boss> 2. to kneel and touch the forehead to the ground in token of homage, worship, or deep respect

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. (also kotow) hist. --n. the Chinese custom of kneeling and touching the ground with the forehead in worship or submission. --v.intr. 1 perform the kowtow. 2 (usu. foll. by to) act obsequiously. Etymology: Chin. ketou f. ke knock + tou head

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Kowtow Kow*tow", n. & v. i. The same as Kotow. I have salaamed and kowtowed to him. --H. James.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

also kow-tow(kowtows, kowtowing, kowtowed) If you say that someone kowtows to someone else, you are criticizing them because they are too eager to obey or be polite to someone in authority. (INFORMAL) See how stupidly they kow-tow to persons higher in the hierarchy. VERB: V to n, also V [disapproval]

Moby Thesaurus

apple-polish, bend, bend the knee, bend the neck, bend to, bending the knee, bob, bob a curtsy, bob down, bootlick, bow, bow and scrape, bow down, bow the head, bow to, bowing and scraping, brown-nose, butter up, cower, crawl, creep, cringe, cringe to, crouch, crouch before, curtsy, dance attendance on, dipping the colors, do homage, do obeisance, duck, fall down before, fawn, flatter, genuflect, genuflection, grovel, homage, inclination, kneel, kneel to, kneeling, knuckle to, lick the dust, lickspittle, make a leg, make a reverence, make obeisance, making a leg, nod, obeisance, obsequiousness, pander to, pay court to, play up to, presenting arms, prostration, reverence, salaam, salutation, salute, scrape, servility, shine up to, squat, standing at attention, stoop, submission, submissiveness, suck up to, supination, toadeat, toady, truckle, truckle to