English Explanatory Dictionary

cow

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. An adult female of the species Bos taurus, especially one that has calved.
  2. Any member of the species Bos taurus that is not of a bucking breed or fighting breed, regardless of sex or age, including steers and calves.
  3. Beef: the meat of cattle as food.
  4. Any bovines or bovids generally, including yaks, buffalo, etc.
  5. A female member of other large species of mammal, including the bovines, moose, whales, seals, hippos, rhinos, manatees, and elephants.
  6. A woman considered unpleasant in some way, particularly one considered nasty, stupid, fat, lazy, or difficult.
  7. A chock: a wedge or brake used to stop a machine or car.
  8. A third-year cadet at West Point.
  9. A fish that is very large for its species, such as a large striped bass or large bluefin tuna.
verb
  1. To intimidate; to daunt the spirits or courage of.
noun
  1. A chimney cowl.
noun
  1. LFBOT: Synonym of luminous fast blue optical transient.
noun
  1. Acronym of copy-on-write.
  2. Acronym of chief of watch.
name
  1. Alternative form of C of W.
noun
  1. Initialism of clerk of works.
name
  1. A surname
  2. A placename
  3. Ellipsis of Cow Creek.
  4. Ellipsis of Cow Island.
  5. Ellipsis of Cow Lake.
  6. Ellipsis of Cow Mountain.

Pronunciation

en-uk-a cow.ogg /kaʊ/ [kʰæʊː] en-us-cow.ogg /kuː/

Word forms

cow cows cattle kye kine cowing cowed

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *gʷṓws Proto-Germanic *kōz Proto-West Germanic *kō Old English cū Middle English cow English cow Inherited from Middle English cow, cou, from Old English cū (“cow”), from Proto-West Germanic *kō, from Proto-Germanic *kōz (“cow”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷṓws (“cow”). Cognate with Sanskrit गो (go), Ancient Greek βοῦς (boûs), Persian گاو (gâv)), Latvian govs (“cow”), Proto-Slavic *govędo (Serbo-Croatian govedo, Russian говядина (govjadina, “beef”), Scots coo (“cow”), North Frisian ko, kø (“cow”), West Frisian ko (“cow”), Dutch koe (“cow”), Low German Koh, Koo, Kau (“cow”), German Kuh (“cow”), Swedish ko (“cow”), Norwegian ku (“cow”), Icelandic kýr (“cow”), Latin bōs (“ox, bull, cow”) (whence English beef), Armenian կով (kov, “cow”). Doublet of beef. The plural kine is from Middle English kyne, kyn, kuin, kiin, kien (“cows”), either a double plural of Middle English ky, kye (“cows”), equivalent to modern kye + -en, or inherited from Old English cūna (“cows', of cows”), genitive plural of cū (“cow”).

Synonyms

moo-cow dolphinet bitch bugger cattle beast bastard buffalo bulldoze bully browbeat cow dastardize daunt dishearten do down domineer drive hector intimidate menace strong-arm cow-class event cow event cow-like event LFBOT cow class luminous fast blue optical transient

Antonyms

bull ox steer heifer

Related words

beef bovine bull calf cattle heifer low moo ox steer veal

Derived words

all cows eat grass ant cow anticow bell cow black cow Blue Cow brown cow bull and cow bulls and cows bush cow cash cow cat-cow cowback cowbane cowbarn cow bell cowbell cow belt cowberry cow bingo cowbird cow bite cow blowing cowboy cow bunny cow cat cow catcher cowcatcher cowchild cow chip cow-chip cow-clicker cow cocky cow cod soup cow college cow corner cow creamer cowdom cow-dung cowdung cow dung cow elephant cow-eyed cow eyes cowfinch cowfish Cow Flat cowflesh cowfoot cowfucker cowgal cowgirl cow grease cow gum cowhand cow handed cow-handed cow-hearted cowhearted cowheel
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
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