See Also:

sow(1) (iou)



sow noun1.
[Old English sugu = Old Saxon suga, Middle Low German, Middle Dutch soge (Dutch zeug) rel. to Old English su, Old High German su (German Sau), Old Norse sr (accus. su); from Indo-European base, repr. also by Latin sus (suis) pig, Greek hus.]
I.
A female pig, esp. an adult or full-grown female one, spec. a domestic one after farrowing. OE.
b. The (full-grown) female of certain other animals, esp. the bear, badger, guinea-pig, and hedgehog. L17.
A movable structure with a strong roof, spec. (a) Hist. a protective structure used in siege warfare forces; (b) a protective structure for miners working underground. ME.
= sowbug below. Now rare. L15.
As a term of abuse: a contemptible person, esp. a fat, clumsy, or slovenly woman. E16.
II.
A large bar or mass of metal (orig. lead, now usu. iron), esp. from a smelting-furnace. Cf. PIG noun1 6. LME.
b. Any of the larger channels in a smelting-furnace, serving as a feeder to the smaller channels. Cf. PIG noun1 6b. M19.
A large oblong-shaped rick or stack, esp. of hay. Scot. & north. M17.
Phrases: as drunk as David's sow (now arch. & dial.) extremely drunk. get the right sow by the ear, get the wrong sow by the ear get hold of the right (or wrong) person or thing; take a correct (or incorrect) view. grease the fat sow: see GREASE verb 3. have the right sow by the ear, have the wrong sow by the ear have hold of the right (or wrong) person or thing; have a correct (or incorrect) view. my sow's pigged Hist. a former card-game.
Comb.: sow-back (chiefly Scot.) (a) a woman's cap or head-dress with a ridge or fold running from front to back; (b) Geology a long low hill or ridge resembling the back of a sow, usu. of glacial origin; sow-backed adjective (a) having a back like that of a sow; (b) ridged like a sow's back; sowbane orig., any of several goosefoots (genus Chenopodium); now spec. maple-leaved goosefoot, C. hybridum; sow-belly US slang (salted) side of pork; sowbread arch. a cyclamen of southern Europe, Cyclamen hederifolium, whose roots are reputedly eaten by wild boars in Sicily; sowbug a woodlouse, esp. one of the genus Oniscus; sow-drunk adjective (now arch. & dial.) extremely drunk; sow-gelder a person whose business it is to geld or spay sows; sow-louse (now rare) = sowbug above; sow-metal cast iron in sows or large ingots as obtained from a smelting-furnace; sow-pig a young female pig, esp. one which has been spayed; a sow; sow's-baby slang (a) a (young) pig; (b) sixpence; sowthistle [perh. alt. of THOWTHISTLE] (a) any of various composite plants constituting the genus Sonchus, having yellow flower-heads, sharply-toothed leaves, and milky juice; esp. either of the common weeds S. oleraceus and S. asper (also called milk-thistle); (b) (with specifying word) any of various plants of several genera allied to Sonchus; blue sowthistle, a lilac-flowered Caucasian plant, Cicerbita macrophylla, grown in gardens and increasingly naturalized.