cow1

 
Pronunciation: /kaʊ/

noun

  • 1a fully grown female animal of a domesticated breed of ox, kept to produce milk or beef: a dairy cow
  • (loosely) a domestic bovine animal, regardless of sex or age.
  • (in farming) a female domestic bovine animal which has borne more than one calf. Compare with heifer.
  • the female of certain other large animals, for example elephant, rhinoceros, whale, or seal.
  • 2 informal an unpleasant or disliked woman.
  • Australian/NZ an unpleasant person or thing.

Phrases

have a cow

North American informal become angry, excited, or agitated: don’t have a cow—it’s no big deal

till the cows come home

informal for an indefinitely long time: those two could talk till the cows came home

Origin:

Old English cū, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch koe and German Kuh, from an Indo-European root shared by Latin bos and Greek bous