What does COW mean?

Definitions for COW
kaʊcow

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word COW.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. cow, moo-cownoun

    female of domestic cattle: "`moo-cow' is a child's term"

  2. cownoun

    mature female of mammals of which the male is called `bull'

  3. cowverb

    a large unpleasant woman

  4. overawe, cowverb

    subdue, restrain, or overcome by affecting with a feeling of awe; frighten (as with threats)

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. COWnoun

    in the plural, anciently kine, or keen, now commonly cows; The female of the bull; the horned animal with cloven feet, kept for her milk and calves.

    Etymology: cu, Sax. koe, Dutch.

    We see that the horns of oxen and cows, for the most part, are larger than the bulls; which is caused by abundance of moisture, which in the horns of the bull faileth. Francis Bacon.

    After the fever is diminished, asses and goats milk may be necessary; yea, a diet of cows milk alone. Richard Wiseman, Surgery.

    Then, leaving in the fields his grazing cows,
    He sought himself some hospitable house:
    Good Creton entertain’d his godlike guest. John Dryden, Fables.

  2. To Cowverb

    To depress with fear; to oppress with habitual timidity.

    Etymology: from coward, by contraction.

    Macduff was from his mother’s womb
    Untimely ripp’d. ————
    ———— Accursed be that tongue that tells me so;
    For it hath cow’d my better part of man. William Shakespeare, Macbeth.

    By reason of their frequent revolts they have drawn upon themselves the pressures of war so often, that it seems to have somewhat cowed their spirits. James Howell, Vocal Forest.

    For when men by their wives are cow’d,
    Their horns of course are understood. Hudibras, p. ii. c. 2.

ChatGPT

  1. cow

    A cow is a large domesticated mammal that is typically kept on farms for the production of milk or meat. It is a member of the Bovidae family and belongs to the species Bos taurus in the animal kingdom. Cows are herbivores, primarily eating grass and other plant material, and they have distinctive features such as a large body, a roughly rectangular body shape, and two horns. They are also known for having a tough digestive system that allows them to ferment food in a specialized stomach before digestion.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Cownoun

    a chimney cap; a cowl

  2. Cownoun

    the mature female of bovine animals

  3. Cownoun

    the female of certain large mammals, as whales, seals, etc

  4. Cowverb

    to depress with fear; to daunt the spirits or courage of; to overawe

  5. Cownoun

    a wedge, or brake, to check the motion of a machine or car; a chock

  6. Etymology: [See Cowl a hood.]

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Cow

    kow, n. the female of the bovine animals: the female of certain other animals, as the elephant, &c.—older plurals, Kine and Kye, the latter now only Scotch.—ns. Cow′-bane, the water-hemlock, often destructive to cattle; Cow′-berr′y, the red whortleberry; Cow′-bird, -bunt′ing, an American starling which accompanies cattle, and drops its eggs into other birds' nests; Cow′-boy, a boy who has the care of cows: (U.S.) a man who has the charge of cattle on a ranch; Cow′-calf, a female calf; Cow′-catch′er (U.S.), an apparatus on the front of railway engines to throw off obstacles; Cow′-cher′vil, -pars′ley, -weed, an umbelliferous European plant of the hedges and woods; Cow′feeder, a dairyman, cowherd; Cow′-grass, the zigzag clover: a variety of red clover; Cow′-heel, an ox-foot stewed to a jelly; Cow′herd, one who herds cows; Cow′hide, the hide of a cow: the hide of a cow made into leather: a coarse whip made of twisted strips of cowhide.—v.t. to whip with a cowhide.—n. Cow′-house, a place in which cows are stalled, a byre.—adj. Cow′ish, like a cow: (Shak.) cowardly.—ns. Cow′-leech, a cow-doctor; Cow′lick, a tuft of turned-up hair on the forehead; Cow′-pars′nip, an umbelliferous plant, used as food for hogs and cattle; Cow′-plant, a perennial plant of Ceylon, with a milky juice; Cow′-pox, a disease which appears in pimples on the teats of the cow, the matter thereof used for vaccination; Cow′-tree, a South American tree that produces a nourishing fluid resembling milk; Cow′-wheat, a genus of annual plants, with yellow flowers and seeds somewhat like grains of wheat. [A.S. , pl. ; Ger. kuh; Sans. go.]

  2. Cow

    kow, v.t. to subdue: keep under: to dishearten.—adjs. Cowed, depressed; Cow′ish (Shak.), easily cowed, timorous: mean. [Perh. from Ice. kúga; Dan. kue, to subdue.]

Dictionary of Nautical Terms

  1. cow

    Applied by whalers to the female whale.--To cow. To depress with fear.

Editors Contribution

  1. cow

    A type of female animal.

    The cow was in the field and my husband loved the way I wanted to cuddle them.


    Submitted by MaryC on January 25, 2020  

Suggested Resources

  1. COW

    What does COW stand for? -- Explore the various meanings for the COW acronym on the Abbreviations.com website.

Matched Categories

British National Corpus

  1. Written Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'COW' in Written Corpus Frequency: #2822

  2. Nouns Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'COW' in Nouns Frequency: #1529

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

How to pronounce COW?

How to say COW in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of COW in Chaldean Numerology is: 7

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of COW in Pythagorean Numerology is: 5

Examples of COW in a Sentence

  1. Benjamin Franklin:

    He was so learned that he could name a horse in nine languages so ignorant that he bought a cow to ride on.

  2. George Carter:

    I turn around and I see my son tangled up in a lead rope and a cow running down the drive way, at that point, he had already been stomped on.

  3. Robert Louis Stevenson:

    The friendly cow all red and white, I love with all my heart: She gives me cream with all her might; to eat with apple tart.

  4. David Dean Rusk:

    The United States is not just an old cow that gives more milk the more it's kicked in the flanks.

  5. Courtesy José Ralat Ralat:

    I got into it mainly through falling in love with a young lady of Mexican descent from Texas Monthly. And she introduced me to breakfast tacos, and she downright forced me to eat cow tongue. … I was head over heels for both the food and the girl.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

COW#1#7132#10000

Translations for COW

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"COW." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2025. Web. 6 Feb. 2025. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/COW>.

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