English Explanatory Dictionary

tow

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb
  1. To pull something behind one, such as by using a line, chain, or tongue.
  2. To aid someone behind by shielding them from wind resistance.
noun
  1. The act of towing and the condition of being towed.
  2. Something, such as a tugboat, that tows.
  3. Something, such as a barge, that is towed.
  4. A rope or cable used in towing.
  5. A speed increase given by driving in front of another car on a straight, which causes a slipstream for the car behind.
noun
  1. An untwisted bundle of fibres such as cellulose acetate, flax, hemp or jute.
  2. The short, coarse, less desirable fibres separated by hackling from the finer longer fibres (line).
name
  1. A surname.
noun
  1. Initialism of tube-launched, optically tracked, wire-guided: a kind of antitank missile.
phrase
  1. Initialism of The One with ... or The One Where ...: used to refer to episodes of the American television sitcom Friends.

Pronunciation

tō /təʊ/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-tow.wav /toʊ/ /to/ /tou/ tou /taʊ/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-tow2.wav

Word forms

tow tows towing towed

Etymology

From Middle English towen, from Old English togian, from Proto-West Germanic *togōn, from Proto-Germanic *tugōną, from Proto-Indo-European *dewk-. See also Middle High German zogen, German ziehen, Dutch tijgen, Old Norse toga.

Synonyms

draw haul pull trail hards oakum TOW missile

Related words

taw

Derived words

in tow on tow ski tow tow bar tow hitch tow iron tow ring tow rope tow truck under tow undertow towy swingling tow tow-colored tow-haired tow haired towhead towheaded tow linen
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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