PLOUGH

( BrE ) ( NAmE plow ) / plaʊ; NAmE / noun , verb

■ noun

1.

[ C ] a large piece of farming equipment with one or several curved blades, pulled by a tractor or by animals. It is used for digging and turning over soil, especially before seeds are planted.

—see also snowplough

2.

the Plough ( BrE ) ( NAmE the ˌBig ˈDipper ) [ sing. ] a group of seven bright stars that can only be seen from the northern half of the world

•

IDIOMS

- under the plough

■ verb

to dig and turn over a field or other area of land with a plough :

[ vn ]

ploughed fields

[also v ]

•

IDIOMS

- plough a lonely, your own, etc., furrow

•

PHRASAL VERBS

- plough sth back (in / into sth) | plough sth back in

- plough into sb/sth

- plough sth into sth

- plough on (with sth)

- plough (your way) through sth

- plough sth up

••

WORD ORIGIN

late Old English plōh , of Germanic origin; related to Dutch ploeg and German Pflug . The spelling plough became common in England in the 18th cent.; earlier (16th–17th cents) the noun was normally spelled plough , the verb plow .