Adjacent Words

Sowbug definitions

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Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Sow Sow, n. [OE. sowe, suwe, AS. sugu, akin to s[=u], D. zog, zeug, OHG. s[=u], G. sau, Icel. s[=y]r, Dan. so, Sw. sugga, so, L. sus. Gr. "y^s, sy^s, Zend. hu boar; probably from the root seen in Skr. s[=u] to beget, to bear; the animal being named in allusion to its fecundity. [root]294. Cf. Hyena, Soil to stain, Son, Swine.] 1. (Zo["o]l.) The female of swine, or of the hog kind. 2. (Zo["o]l.) A sow bug. 3. (Metal.) (a) A channel or runner which receives the rows of molds in the pig bed. (b) The bar of metal which remains in such a runner. (c) A mass of solidified metal in a furnace hearth; a salamander. 4. (Mil.) A kind of covered shed, formerly used by besiegers in filling up and passing the ditch of a besieged place, sapping and mining the wall, or the like. --Craig. Sow bread. (Bot.) See Cyclamen. Sow bug, or Sowbug (Zo["o]l.), any one of numerous species of terrestrial Isopoda belonging to Oniscus, Porcellio, and allied genera of the family Oniscid[ae]. They feed chiefly on decaying vegetable substances. Sow thistle [AS. sugepistel] (Bot.), a composite plant (Sonchus oleraceus) said to be eaten by swine and some other animals.