cow Hear it!

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cow1 definition

cow (ko̵u)

noun

  1. the mature female of domestic cattle (genus Bos), valued for its milk
  2. the mature female of certain other mammals, as the buffalo, elephant, moose, whale, etc.: the male of such animals is called a bull
  3. ☆ West a domestic bovine animal, whether a steer, bull, cow, or calf: usually used in pl.

Etymology: ME cou, cow, pl. kye (southern doubled pl. kyn) < OE cū, pl. cy < IE base *gwou-, cow, ox > Sans gauḥ, Gr bous, L bos, OIr bo, Ger kuh

cow Idioms

have a cow

Slang to become very agitated or angry
cow2 definition

cow (ko̵u)

transitive verb

to make timid and submissive by filling with fear or awe; intimidate

Etymology: < ON kūga, to subdue; meaning infl. by cow, coward

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Alternate definitions:

idioms cow idiom

cow Synonyms

cow

n.

heifer, milk cow, dairy cow, bovine, critter*, bossy*; see also bull 1, calf.

Breeds of cows include --- beef: Aberdeen Angus, Hereford, Longhorn, Texas Longhorn, Durham, Sussex, Galloway, Charolais, whiteface*; dairy: Ayrshire, Guernsey, Jersey, Holstein-Friesian, Alderney, Brown Swiss, Dexter, Kerry, Simmenthal, Jutland, Red Danish; dual-purpose: Red Poll, Shorthorn, Devon, Dutch Belted, French Canadian.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

cow Usage Examples

Possessives

  • milk: For them, cow's milk is Nature's most perfect food.

Converse of object

  • calve: A comparison of four contrasting milk production systems with winter calving high genetic merit cows.

Adjective modifier

  • sacred: Why is the car treated like a sacred cow?

Modifies a noun

  • dung: As the frozen bird lay there in the pile of cow dung, he began to realize how warm he was.

Noun used with modifier

  • suckler: SCP is paid on suckler cows forming part of a regular breeding herd used for rearing calves for meat production.
cow usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

cow quotes

  Kiss till the cow comes home.

-Beaumont, Francis and Fletcher,John

Truth, Sir, is a cow, that will yield such people no more milk, and so they are gone to milk the bull.

-Johnson, Samuel known as Dr Johnson

The cow is of the bovine ilk; One end is moo, the other, milk.

-Nash, (Frederic) Ogden

cow quotes (more)

Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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MLA Style

"cow." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 5 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/cow>

APA Style

cow. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 5th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/cow

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