Sow \Sow\, v. t. [imp. Sowed; p. p. Sownor Sowed; p. pr. & vb. n. Sowing.]

[OE. sowen, sawen, AS. s[=a]wan; akin to OFries. s?a, D. zaaijen, OS. & HG. s[=a]jan, G. s["a]en, Icel. s[=a], Sw. s[*a], Dan. saae, Goth. saian, Lith. s[=e]ti, 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. --Matt. xiii. 3, 4.

And sow dissension in the hearts of brothers. --Addison.

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. --Sir M. Hale.

[He] sowed with stars the heaven. --Milton.

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

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Sow \Sow\, v. i. To sew. See Sew. [Obs.]

--Chaucer.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Sow \Sow\, n. [OE. sowe, suwe, AS. sugu, akin to s[=u], D. zog, zeug, OHG. s[=u], G. sau, Icel. s[=y]r, Dan. so, Sw. sugga, so, L. sus. Gr. "y^s, sy^s, Zend. hu boar; probably from the root seen in Skr. s[=u] to beget, to bear; the animal being named in allusion to its fecundity. [root]294. Cf. Hyena, Soil to stain, Son, Swine.]

1. (Zo["o]l.) The female of swine, or of the hog kind.

2. (Zo["o]l.) 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 (Zo["o]l.), any one of numerous species of terrestrial Isopoda belonging to Oniscus, Porcellio, and allied genera of the family Oniscid[ae]. 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.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Sow \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. --Ps. cxxvi. 5.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)