Sow

Sow (?), v. i. To sew. See Sew. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Sow (?), n. [OE. sowe, suwe, AS. sugu, akin to sū, D. zog, zeug, OHG. sū, G. sau, Icel. sȳr, Dan. so, Sw. sugga, so, L. sus. Gr. "y^s, sy^s, Zend. hu boar; probably from the root seen in Skr. sū to beget, to bear; the animal being named in allusion to its fecundity. √294. Cf. Hyena, Soil to stain, Son, Swine.] 1. (Zoöl.) The female of swine, or of the hog kind.

2. (Zoöl.) A sow bug.

3. (Metal.) (a) A channel or runner which receives the rows of molds in the pig bed. (b) The bar of metal which remains in such a runner. (c) A mass of solidified metal in a furnace hearth; a salamander.

4. (Mil.) A kind of covered shed, formerly used by besiegers in filling up and passing the ditch of a besieged place, sapping and mining the wall, or the like. Craig.

Sow bread. (Bot.) See Cyclamen. -- Sow bug, or Sowbug (Zoöl.), any one of numerous species of terrestrial Isopoda belonging to Oniscus, Porcellio, and allied genera of the family Oniscidæ. They feed chiefly on decaying vegetable substances. -- Sow thistle [AS. sugepistel] (Bot.), a composite plant (Sonchus oleraceus) said to be eaten by swine and some other animals.

Sow (?), v. t. [imp. Sowed (?); p. p. Sown (?) or Sowed; p. pr. & vb. n. Sowing.] [OE. sowen, sawen, AS. sāwan; akin to OFries. s?a, D. zaaijen, OS. & HG. sājan, G. säen, Icel. sā, Sw. så, Dan. saae, Goth. saian, Lith. sēti, 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.

And sow dissension in the hearts of brothers.

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.

[He] sowed with stars the heaven.

Now morn . . . sowed the earth with orient pearl.

Sow, v. i. To scatter seed for growth and the production of a crop; -- literally or figuratively.

They that sow in tears shall reap in joi.