Adjacent Words

Sowing definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

SOWING, ppr. Scattering, as seed; sprinkling with seed, as ground; stocking with seed.
SOWING, n. The act of scattering seed for propagation.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Sow Sow, v. t. [imp. Sowed; p. p. Sownor Sowed; p. pr. & vb. n. Sowing.] [OE. sowen, sawen, AS. s[=a]wan; akin to OFries. s?a, D. zaaijen, OS. & HG. s[=a]jan, G. s["a]en, Icel. s[=a], Sw. s[*a], Dan. saae, Goth. saian, Lith. s[=e]ti, Russ. sieiate, L. serere, sevi. Cf. Saturday, Season, Seed, Seminary.] 1. To scatter, as seed, upon the earth; to plant by strewing; as, to sow wheat. Also used figuratively: To spread abroad; to propagate. ``He would sow some difficulty.'' --Chaucer. A sower went forth to sow; and when he sowed, some seeds fell by the wayside. --Matt. xiii. 3, 4. And sow dissension in the hearts of brothers. --Addison. 2. To scatter seed upon, in, or over; to supply or stock, as land, with seeds. Also used figuratively: To scatter over; to besprinkle. The intellectual faculty is a goodly field, . . . and it is the worst husbandry in the world to sow it with trifles. --Sir M. Hale. [He] sowed with stars the heaven. --Milton. Now morn . . . sowed the earth with orient pearl. --Milton.