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| bow [ bō ] |
noun (plural bows) |
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| Definition: |
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1. looped knot: a knot in which the loops remain visible, e.g. in tied shoelaces or in ribbons used for decorating gifts or hair.
See also bow tie
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2. weapon for firing arrows: a weapon used to fire arrows, consisting of a curved flexible piece of wood and a taut string fastened to the two ends
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3. rod for playing stringed instruments: a wooden rod with horsehair tightly stretched between the two ends, used for playing stringed instruments
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4. curved shape or part: something that has a rounded or semicircular shape, e.g. a part of a building or a loop in a river
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5. frame of glasses: the frame for a pair of glasses or the part of the frame that curls around the ear
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6. archery history
(
literary
)
Same as bowman1
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7. meteorology
Same as rainbown (sense 1)
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verb (past and past participle bowed, present participle bow·ing, 3rd person present singular bows) |
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| Definition: |
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1. transitive and intransitive verb bend something into curve: to bend, or bend something, into a rounded or bow shape
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2. transitive and intransitive verb use bow on stringed instrument: to draw a bow across the strings of a stringed instrument
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3. transitive verb indicate bowing for music: to mark a piece of music to indicate which notes are to be played with the bow moving in one direction across the strings and which are to be played with it moving in the opposite direction
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| [ Old English boga< Germanic, "to bend"] |
