Adjacent Words

Plow definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

PLOW, n.
1. In agriculture, an instrument for turning up, breaking and preparing the ground for receiving the seed. It is drawn by oxen or horses and saves the labor of digging; it is therefore the most useful instrument in agriculture.
The emperor lays hold of the plow and turns up several furrows.
When fern succeeds, ungrateful to the plow.
2. Figuratively, tillage; culture of the earth; agriculture.
3. A joiner's instrument for grooving.
PLOW, v.t. To trench and turn up with a plow; as, to plow the ground for wheat; to plow it into ridges.
1. To furrow; to divide; to run through in sailing.
With speed we plow the watery wave.
2. To tear; to furrow.
3. In Scripture, to labor in any calling.
He that ploweth should plow in hope. 1 Corinthians 9.
To plow on the back, to scourge; to mangle, or to persecute and torment. Psalms 129.
To plow with one's heifer, to deal with the wife to obtain something from the husband. Judges 14.
To plow iniquity or wickedness, and reap it, to devise and practice it, and at last suffer the punishment of it. Job 14. Hosea 10.
To plow in, to cover by plowing; as, to plow in wheat.
To plow up or out, to turn out of the ground by plowing.
To put one's hand to the plow and look back, is to enter on the service of Christ and afterwards abandon it. Luke 9.
[This difference of orthography often made between the noun and verb is wholly unwarrantable, and contrary to settled analogy in our language. Such a difference is never made in changing into verbs, plot, harrow, notice, question, and most other words. See Practice.]
PLOW'-ALMS, n. A penny formerly paid by every plow-land to the church.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a farm tool having one or more heavy blades to break the soil and cut a furrow prior to sowing [syn: plow, plough] v
1: to break and turn over earth especially with a plow; "Farmer Jones plowed his east field last week"; "turn the earth in the Spring" [syn: plow, plough, turn]
2: act on verbally or in some form of artistic expression; "This book deals with incest"; "The course covered all of Western Civilization"; "The new book treats the history of China" [syn: cover, treat, handle, plow, deal, address]
3: move in a way resembling that of a plow cutting into or going through the soil; "The ship plowed through the water" [syn: plow, plough]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Old English pl?h hide of land; akin to Old High German pfluog plow Date: 12th century 1. an implement used to cut, lift, and turn over soil especially in preparing a seedbed 2. any of various devices (as a snowplow) operating like a plow II. verb Date: 15th century transitive verb 1. a. to turn, break up, or work with a plow b. to make (as a furrow) with a plow 2. to cut into, open, or make furrows or ridges in with or as if with a plow 3. to cleave the surface of or move through (water) <whales plowing the ocean> 4. to clear away snow from with a snowplow <plow the street> 5. to spend or invest (money) in substantial amounts — used with into <plows most of her income into mutual funds> intransitive verb 1. a. to use a plow b. to bear or admit of plowing 2. a. to move in a way resembling that of a plow <the car plowed into a fence> b. to proceed steadily and laboriously <had to plow through a stack of letters> • plowable adjective • plower noun

Britannica Concise

Most important agricultural implement since the beginning of history, used to turn and break up soil, to bury crop residues, and to help control weeds. The forerunner of the plow is the prehistoric digging stick. The earliest plows were undoubtedly digging sticks with handles for pulling or pushing. By Roman times, plows were pulled by oxen or horses, and today they are drawn by tractors.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

US var. of PLOUGH.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Plow Plow, Plough Plough (plou), n. [OE. plouh, plou, AS. pl[=o]h; akin to D. ploeg, G. pflug, OHG. pfluog, pfluoh, Icel. pl[=o]gr, Sw. plog, Dan. ploug, plov, Russ. plug', Lith. plugas.] 1. A well-known implement, drawn by horses, mules, oxen, or other power, for turning up the soil to prepare it for bearing crops; also used to furrow or break up the soil for other purposes; as, the subsoil plow; the draining plow. Where fern succeeds ungrateful to the plow. --Dryden. 2. Fig.: Agriculture; husbandry. --Johnson. 3. A carucate of land; a plowland. [Obs.] [Eng.] Johan, mine eldest son, shall have plowes five. --Tale of Gamelyn. 4. A joiner's plane for making grooves; a grooving plane. 5. (Bookbinding) An implement for trimming or shaving off the edges of books. 6. (Astron.) Same as Charles's Wain. Ice plow, a plow used for cutting ice on rivers, ponds, etc., into cakes suitable for storing. [U. S.] Mackerel plow. See under Mackerel. Plow alms, a penny formerly paid by every plowland to the church. --Cowell. Plow beam, that part of the frame of a plow to which the draught is applied. See Beam, n., 9. Plow Monday, the Monday after Twelth Day, or the end of Christmas holidays. Plow staff. (a) A kind of long-handled spade or paddle for cleaning the plowshare; a paddle staff. (b) A plow handle. Snow plow, a structure, usually [Lambda]-shaped, for removing snow from sidewalks, railroads, etc., -- drawn or driven by a horse or a locomotive.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Plow Plow, Plough Plough, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Plowed (ploud) or Ploughed; p. pr. & vb. n. Plowing or Ploughing.] 1. To turn up, break up, or trench, with a plow; to till with, or as with, a plow; as, to plow the ground; to plow a field. 2. To furrow; to make furrows, grooves, or ridges in; to run through, as in sailing. Let patient Octavia plow thy visage up With her prepared nails. --Shak. With speed we plow the watery way. --Pope. 3. (Bookbinding) To trim, or shave off the edges of, as a book or paper, with a plow. See Plow, n., 5. 4. (Joinery) To cut a groove in, as in a plank, or the edge of a board; especially, a rectangular groove to receive the end of a shelf or tread, the edge of a panel, a tongue, etc. To plow in, to cover by plowing; as, to plow in wheat.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Plow Plow, Plough Plough (plou), v. i. To labor with, or as with, a plow; to till or turn up the soil with a plow; to prepare the soil or bed for anything. --Shak. Doth the plowman plow all day to sow ? --Isa. xxviii. 24.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(plows, plowing, plowed) see plough

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

plou (charash; arotrioo): No implement of the Bible is more frequently illustrated today than the plow. This is partly because there is every reason to believe that the plows still used throughout Egypt, Palestine, and Syria are counterparts of the ancient ones. The first plows were probably an adaptation of the ancient Egyptian hoe, where the handle was lengthened in order that animals might be hitched to it. To make it easier to break up the ground, it was pointed, and handles were added by which it could be guided. The ancient plow probably varied in type in different sections of the country, as it does today. In one form a young tree Of oak or other strong wood of a diameter of 3 or 4 inches is cut off just below a good-sized branch and again 15 or 20 inches above. The upper end of the severed trunk is pointed and forms the share. Between this and the side branch is fitted a brace. The branch is cut off 10 or 12 ft. from the trunk and forms the pole. A lighter stick, about 3 ft. long, projects upward from the share and forms the handle. The plow used in Syria is of slightly different construction. The handle and share are one continuous piece, so cut that there is a slight bend at the middle. The share is pointed and is used bare in the plains, or in more stony regions is shod with iron. The pole is of 2 pieces joined end to end. The thicker end of the pole is notched, so that it may be attached firmly to the share. The whole plow is so light that it can be easily carried on a man's shoulder. These plows literally scratch the soil, as the Hebrew word implies. They do not turn over the ground as the modern implement does. The plowman guides the plow with one hand, and with the other sometimes goads the oxen, and at other times with the chisel end of his goad breaks away the lumps of earth or other material which impedes the progress of his plow.

See YOKE.

In addition to the words which are found above, the following terms occur: `abhadh (literally, "to serve"), "worked" or "plowed" (De 21:4); palach (literally, "to break open," Ps 141:7).

One special law is mentioned in connection with plowing, namely that an ox and an ass should not be yoked together (De 22:10), a prohibition which is utterly disregarded today. Oxen were principally used for plowing (Job 1:14). Often several yokes of oxen followed each other plowing parallel furrows across the field, a sight still common on the plains of Syria (1Ki 19:19). Plowing was done by bond servants (Lu 17:7; compare `abhadh, De 21:4). Plowing cannot be done before the rains (Jer 14:4); on the other hand the soil is too sticky to plow in the winter time (Pr 20:4). The law requiring one day of rest in every seven days included plowing time (Ex 34:21).

Figurative: "The plowers plowed upon my back" typified deep affliction (Ps 129:3; compare Ps 141:7). "Plow iniquity" is urged in the sense of "plant iniquity." Doing evil was sure to bring evil consequences (Job 4:8; compare Mic 3:12). As surely as planting comes after plowing, so surely will Yahweh carry out His decree of destruction (Isa 28:23-25). "Judah shall plow," i.e. become enslaved (Ho 10:11); compare "Foreigners shall be your plowmen" (Isa 61:5). "Will one plow there with oxen?" (Am 6:12), "neither plowing nor harvest" (Ge 45:6) are figures of desolation. Zion plowed as a field, i.e. utterly destroyed (Jer 26:18). The plowman shall overtake the reaper, i.e. the soil shall be so fertile as to require no rest--typical of great abundance (Am 9:13). No opportunity to plow because of lack of rain is a desolate picture of drought (Jer 14:4). As the plowman expects to share in the fruits of the harvest, so might an apostle expect his temporal needs to be provided for (1Co 9:10). "If ye had not plowed with my heifer," i.e. used my wife, was Samson's reply to those who had secured the answer to his riddle from her (Jud 14:18). "Beat their swords into plowshares" (or hoes) (Isa 2:4; Mic 4:3) typified peace; "beat your plowshares into swords"--war (Joe 3:10). "Having put his hand to the plow, and looking back," i.e. longing for evil things when one has set his face toward doing what is right, unfits a man for the kingdom of God (Lu 9:62; compare Ge 19:26; Php 3:13).

James A. Patch

Moby Thesaurus

all-crop harvester, backset, baler, bank, bean harvester, beet harvester, binder, break, breaker, canal, canalize, carve, cast plow, chamfer, channel, chisel, combine, corrugate, cotton picker, crab, crack, crimp, cultivate, cultivator, culture, cut, dado, delve, dig, dike, dip, disk, disk harrow, disk plow, ditch, drag, dress, drill, drill plow, engrave, fallow, feather, fertilize, fishtail, flute, force, four-bottom plow, furrow, gang plow, gash, goffer, gouge, grain harvester, groove, grub hook, gully, harrow, harvester, haymaker, header, hoe, hoe drill, incise, list, lister, lister cultivator, loop, middlebreaker, moldboard plow, mulch, peg-tooth harrow, planter, pleat, plow drill, porpoise, prairie breaker, press drill, prune, pull out, pull up, push down, rabbet, rake, ridge, rifle, roll, rotary plow, rut, scooter, score, scratch, seed plow, seeder, shovel plow, sideslip, skid, slit, snap machine, spade, spin, spiral, sprayer, spring-tooth harrow, stag gang, streak, striate, stunt, subsoil plow, sulky lister, sulky plow, swather, swivel plow, tedder, thin, thin out, thrasher, three-bottom plow, thresher, threshing machine, till, till the soil, trench, trench plow, trough, turn, turn over, turnplow, two-bottom plow, undulate, vineyard plow, walking plow, weed, weed out, windrower, work, wrinkle, yaw