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sow2

Pronunciation: /saʊ/

Translate sow | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of sow

noun

  • 1an adult female pig, especially one which has farrowed.
  • the female of certain other mammals, e.g. the guinea pig.
  • 2a large block of metal (larger than a ‘pig’) made by smelting.

Phrases

you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear

proverb you can’t create a fine product from inferior materials.

Origin:

Old English sugu; related to Dutch zeug, German Sau, from an Indo-European root shared by Latin sus and Greek hus 'pig'

sow in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of sow in the US English dictionary

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