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14 dictionary results for: Bower

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

bow·er1

[bou-er] Pronunciation Key

–noun

1.	a leafy shelter or recess; arbor.

2.	a rustic dwelling; cottage.

3.	a lady's boudoir in a medieval castle.

–verb (used with object)

4.	to enclose in or as in a bower; embower.

[Origin: bef. 900; ME bour, OE būr chamber; c. ON būr pantry, G Bauer birdcage; akin to neighbor

]

—Related forms

bow·er·like, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

bow·er2

[bou-er] Pronunciation Key

–noun Nautical.

an anchor carried at a ship's bow.

Also called bower anchor.

[Origin: 1645–55; bow³ + -er¹

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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bow·er3

[bou-er] Pronunciation Key

–noun

a person or thing that bows or bends.

[Origin: 1590–1600; bow¹ + -er¹

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

bow·er4

[boh-er] Pronunciation Key

–noun Music.

a musician, as a violinist, who performs with a bow on a stringed instrument.

[Origin: 1400–50; late ME; see bow², -er¹

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

bow·er¹ (bou'ər) Pronunciation Key
n.

A shaded, leafy recess; an arbor.
A woman's private chamber in a medieval castle; a boudoir.
A rustic cottage; a country retreat.

tr.v. bow·ered, bow·er·ing, bow·ers
To enclose in or as if in a bower; embower.

[Middle English bour, a dwelling, from Old English būr; see bheuə- in Indo-European roots.]

bow'er·y adj.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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bow·er² (bou'ər) Pronunciation Key
n. Nautical
An anchor carried at the bow.

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
bower

O.E. bur "room, hut, dwelling," from P.Gmc. *buraz (cf. Ger. bauer "birdcage"), from base *bu- "to dwell." Modern spelling developed after 1350. Sense of "leafy arbor" (place closed in by trees) is first attested 1523. Hence, too, Australia's bower-bird (1847). New York City's Bowery (1787) was originally a homestead farm (Du. bowerij); used attributively for its squalor since 1840.

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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

bower
noun
1.	a framework that supports climbing plants; "the arbor provided a shady resting place in the park" [syn: arbor]
verb
1.	enclose in a bower [syn: embower]

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Bower

Bo"wer\, n. [From Bow, v. & n.]

1. One who bows or bends.

2. (Naut.) An anchor carried at the bow of a ship.

3. A muscle that bends a limb, esp. the arm. [Obs.]

His rawbone arms, whose mighty brawned bowers Were wont to rive steel plates and helmets hew. --Spenser.

Best bower, Small bower. See the Note under Anchor.

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Bower

Bow"er\ (bou"[~e]r), n. [G. bauer a peasant. So called from the figure sometimes used for the knave in cards. See Boor.] One of the two highest cards in the pack commonly used in the game of euchre.

Right bower, the knave of the trump suit, the highest card (except the "Joker") in the game.

Left bower, the knave of the other suit of the same color as the trump, being the next to the right bower in value.

Best bower or Joker, in some forms of euchre and some other games, an extra card sometimes added to the pack, which takes precedence of all others as the highest card.

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Bower

Bow"er\, n. [OE. bour, bur, room, dwelling, AS. b[=u]r, fr. the root of AS. b[=u]an to dwell; akin to Icel. b[=u]r chamber, storehouse, Sw. b[=u]r cage, Dan. buur, OHG. p[=u]r room, G. bauer cage, bauer a peasant. [root]97] Cf.Boor, Byre.]

1. Anciently, a chamber; a lodging room; esp., a lady's private apartment.

Give me my lute in bed now as I lie, And lock the doors of mine unlucky bower. --Gascoigne.

2. A rustic cottage or abode; poetically, an attractive abode or retreat. --Shenstone. B. Johnson.

3. A shelter or covered place in a garden, made with boughs of trees or vines, etc., twined together; an arbor; a shady recess.

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Bower

Bow"er\, v. t. To embower; to inclose. --Shak.

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Bower

Bow"er\, v. i. To lodge. [Obs.] --Spenser.