I. noun
or plough ˈplau̇
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, plow, plowland, from Old English plōh plowland; akin to Middle Dutch ploech plow, Old High German pfluog
1.
a. archaic : plowland 1
b. chiefly Britain : plowed land : arable country
eight acres of plow — Farmers Weekly (London)
was on plow with the clay clinging to my shoes — Ralph Hammond-Innes
trotting across the plow — Anthony Powell
2. : an implement that is used to cut, lift, turn over, and partly pulverize the soil especially in the preparation of a seedbed and that consists typically of a share for cutting, a moldboard for lifting and turning the soil usually over a landside, a frog to which share, moldboard, and landside are attached, and a beam by which the implement is drawn — see disc plow
3. : any of various devices operating like a plow: as
a. : snowplow
b. : a ballast spreader
c. : an implement for unloading cars of earth or ballast
d. : a machine mounted on the side of a car body for ditching or grading at the side of the roadway
e. : a carpenter's plane for cutting a groove or rabbet
f. : a device for trimming the edges of books that consists of a knife resembling a chisel which is mounted on wood and slides between the runners of a lying press
g. : a device for making contact with the live wire or rail in a conduit
4. plough , chiefly Britain : flunk II
II. verb
or plough “
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English plowen, ploughen, from plow, plough, n.
transitive verb
1.
a. : to turn up, break up, or trench (the soil) with a plow : till with or as with a plow
plow a field
b. : to make (as a furrow) with a plow
a brown furrow had been plowed — Atlantic
2.
a. : to cut into, tear up, or make furrows or ridges in (a surface) with or as if with a plow
gophers that plow and loosen the prairie soil — E.W.Teale
plow the roads after a snowstorm
— often used with up
tanks … had plowed up muddy roads — N.Y.Times
b. : to furrow (the face) deeply with wrinkles
face … plowed with labor and sorrow — Thomas Carlyle
c. chiefly Midland : cultivate — used especially of corn
plowing corn all day … with his team and cultivator — Burl Ives
d. : impregnate 1
plow a woman
he plowed her, and she cropp'd — Shakespeare
3. : to cleave the surface of or move through (water)
ships plowing the seven seas
4. : to cut a groove or rabbet in (a piece of wood) with a carpenter's plow
risers are cut to size but not plowed — Building, Estimating & Contracting
5. : to trim (as a book or paper) with a plow
6. : to turn over (grain) so as to expose fresh surfaces to the air and equalize temperature in malting
7. plough , chiefly Britain : flunk I
intransitive verb
1.
a. : to use a plow : till with a plow
the farmer plowed all day
b. : to bear or admit of plowing
the land plows well now — Adrian Bell
2.
a. : to move in a way resembling that of a plow cutting into or going through the soil
the ship plowed southward
— used often with through, along, into
we plowed through the snow
he plowed through the crowds — S.H.Holbrook
plows along at a ten-knot rate — William Beebe
a truck plowed into her parked car — New York Times
b. : to proceed steadily and laboriously : plod
kept plowing ahead in spite of the difficulties
— used often with through
forced to plow through a summer reading list — Jane Cobb
3. : to operate a carpenter's plow