| bow | |
| 1. n. A weapon made of a curved piece of wood or other flexible material whose ends are connected by a string, used for shooting arrows. | |
| 2. n. A curved bend in a rod or planar surface, or in a linear formation such as a river (see oxbow). | |
| 3. n. A rod with horsehair (or an artificial substitute) stretched between the ends, used for playing various stringed musical instruments. | |
| 4. n. A stringed instrument (chordophone), consisting of a stick with a single taut cord stretched between the ends, most often played by plucking. | |
| 5. n. A type of knot with two loops, used to tie together two cords such as shoelaces or apron strings, and frequently used as decoration, such as in gift-wrapping. | |
| 6. n. Anything bent or curved, such as a rainbow. | |
| 7. n. The U-shaped piece which goes around the neck of an ox and fastens it to the yoke. | |
| 8. n. Any instrument consisting of an elastic rod, with ends connected by a string, employed for giving reciprocating motion to a drill, or for preparing and arranging hair, fur, etc., used by hatters. | |
| 9. n. (nautical) A crude sort of quadrant formerly used for taking the sun's altitude at sea. | |
| 10. n. (saddlery) Two pieces of wood which form the arched forward part of a saddletree. | |
| 11. n. The part of a key that is not inserted into the lock and that is used to turn the key. | |
| 12. v. To play music on (a stringed instrument) using a bow. | |
| The musician bowed his violin expertly. | |
| 13. v. (intransitive) To become bent or curved. | |
| The shelf bowed under the weight of the books. | |
| 14. v. To make something bend or curve. | |
| 15. v. (transitive, figurative) To exercise powerful or controlling influence over; to bend, figuratively; to turn; to incline. | |
| 16. v. (intransitive) To premiere. | |
| Cronenberg’s "Cosmopolis" bows in Cannes this week. | |
| 17. v. (intransitive) To bend oneself as a gesture of respect or deference. | |
| That singer always bows towards her audience for some reason. | |
| 18. v. (transitive, and intransitive) To debut. | |
| 19. v. (intransitive) To defer (to something). | |
| I bow to your better judgement in the matter. | |
| 20. v. To give a direction, indication, or command to by bowing. | |
| 21. n. A gesture, usually showing respect, made by inclining the head or bending forward at the waist; a reverence | |
| He made a polite bow as he entered the room. | |
| 22. n. (nautical) The front of a boat or ship. | |
| 23. n. (rowing) The rower that sits in the seat closest to the bow of the boat. | |
