See Also:

bow(5) (iou)



bow verb1.
[Old English bugan corresp. to Middle Low German bugen, Middle Dutch bughen, Old High German biogan (German biegen), Gothic biugan, from Germanic: cf. BOW noun1.]
I. verb intrans. & refl.
Assume a bent or crooked shape or attitude; bend; stoop. arch. & dial. OE.
Shakespeare Measure for Measure Like an ass whose back with ingots bows. Bible (AV): Ecclesiastes 12:3 When..the strong men shall bowe themselves. Tennyson She bow'd down And wept in secret.
Turn aside, off, or away; swerve; make one's way, go. OE-L16.
Have a curved direction, be bent; tend. OE-M18.
Bend the neck (as if) beneath a yoke. Now chiefly fig., be subject (to), submit, yield. OE.
Dryden Under Iron Yokes make Indians Bow. A. P. Stanley He at last bows to the inevitable course of events.
Bend or kneel (down) in token of reverence, respect, or submission. (Foll. by to, before.) OE.
bow in the house of Rimmon: see HOUSE noun1.
Gibbon An hundred princes bowed before his throne.
Incline the head or body (to) in recognition or assent; make a bow. E17.
bow and scrape behave obsequiously. bowing acquaintance a slight degree of acquaintance.
II. verb trans.
Cause to bend, curve; cause to stoop, crush (as) with a load. ME.
Shakespeare Henry VIII A threepence bow'd would hire me. Milton With sickness and disease thou bow'st them down. F. Ormsby This late guest bowed with winter offerings.
Turn, direct. ME-E18.
Bend downwards, lower, incline. ME.
bow the knee: see KNEE noun.
E. A. Freeman Lanfranc refused to bow his shoulders to such a burden. Day Lewis The worshippers bowed their heads to the gale.
Obey. Only in ME.
Express with a bow; usher in or out by bowing. E17.
With adverbs in specialized senses: bow out take one's leave, esp. with formality; retreat, withdraw.
bowing noun1 (a) the action of the verb; (b) (obsolete exc. dial.) a curved or bent part: LME.