1 definition found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:

Sow \Sow\, verb (used with an object) [imp. {Sowed}; p. p. {Sown}or {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.
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