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cow

[kou]

Example Sentences Origin

noun, plural cows, (Archaic

) kine.

the mature female of a bovine animal, especially of the genus Bos.

the female of various other large animals, as the elephant or whale.

Informal. a domestic bovine of either sex and any age.

Slang: Disparaging and Offensive. a large, obese, and slovenly woman.

Offensive. a woman who has a large number of children or is frequently pregnant.

Idiom

till

until the cows come home, for a long time; forever: You can keep arguing till the cows come home, but I won't change my mind.

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Cow is always a great word to know.

So is gobo. Does it mean:

an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.

a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.

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Origin:
before 900; Middle English cou, Old English cū; cognate with German Kuh, Dutch koe, Old Norse kȳr, Latin bōs, Greek boûs ox; compare bovine, gaur

Related forms

cow·like, adjective

Example Sentences

There are compelling arguments on both sides of the cow case.

It is not a cash cow despite what the spin-doctors say.

Europe has agreed to new measures to prevent the spread of mad cow disease and restore public confidence.

EXPAND

There are compelling arguments on both sides of the cow case.

It is not a cash cow despite what the spin-doctors say.

Europe has agreed to new measures to prevent the spread of mad cow disease and restore public confidence.

Scientists say they have generated clean, renewable electricity from the bacteria-rich fluids found inside cow stomachs.

Just giving a cow a name does not by itself induce the cow to give more milk.

Sometimes the loan can cover the purchase of a much-needed dairy cow.

The fog rolls in as the cow sightings give way to brown pelicans, otters, and sea lions on their own seafood quests.

Japanese scientists have learned how to make gasoline from cow dung by applying high pressure and heat.

To the extent that they can cow people into performing, these administrators can be moderately effective for a while.

The official inquiry into the government's handling of mad cow disease has finally reported.

The cow nurses her calf until it is about eight months old.

Ideas for treating the human form of mad cow disease begin to emerge.

The clock is always ticking on fresh produce, meat and anything from a cow.

Experiments are underway to produce a cloned cow that is absolutely free of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease.

The generators can be powered by biogas extracted from cow manure.

Forget cow tipping-next time you want to mess with a bovine friend, try waving a magnet in its face.

Even a cow has a water footprint, drinking four gallons of water to produce one gallon of milk.

But they could also flex farther down than a cow could have.

In his greed the cow sticks his head into the container to eat the herbs and gets it stuck.

Mad cow disease is caused by prions--misfolded proteins.

Note the cow horn handlebars and suspension saddle with coil springs.

You're not going to be eating cloned cow meat anytime soon.

Above all, the killings and detentions are failing to cow the protesters.

Researchers go around in circles on mad cow disease.

Okay, it's a hammer throw game, but the cow makes it.

Calgary, which has boomed in recent years on the back of oil money, in its soul remains a cow town.

If you are rich or funded purchase a large crystal bowl and a cow or cattle magnet.

Advanced meat recovery systems squeeze cow bones to force out any meat still clinging to them after the animal is slaughtered.

For example, a cow with a name may be treated kinder than a cow with only a number.

Fears of mad cow disease will create a new blood shortage when restrictions go into effect next month.

Beneath the surface slabs of the largest megalithic structure was a sculptured rock resembling a standing cow.

With hysteria over the cow tax dying down, ranchers are starting to chuckle about.

Remember that milk used to sit outside all day after coming out of the cow.

Cow prices are less than half what they were five years ago.

One melancholy cow peers over the fence as a knot of wine connoisseurs gaze at the oak-dotted hills and luxuriously swirl their.

We should take the cows and raise them on a nice farm upstate and then send the cow puppies back to them someday".

Pol and his son save a cow from a whole lot of discomfort and danger.

The lions persevered, and the cow was ultimately killed and eaten.

Simple pasteurized cow milk, used as the basis for the two cheeses.

She is also offended by the neighbor who refers to her as cow kitty.

Police have in some cases used live ammunition to cow demonstrators.

Mwila women smear their hair with oil, mold it with mud and cow dung, and deck it with beads.

Money studied fungi that grow on cow patties and other herbivore dung.

At one time that meant sticking a cow femur in you and calling it.

If you have leather seats, you may be sitting on the hide of a mad cow.

Meat from one infected cow is mixed with many other cows, so that one bad cow can cause hundreds of bad stomachs.

It takes the hide of one whole cow to make four leather basketballs.

Or perhaps a stray cow or goat has wandered into harm's way.

And the cash cow of the for-profit education industry is the federal government.

In a typical example, a woman borrows money to buy a cow and then repays the loan from the profits she makes on selling its milk.

Mario isn't the company's biggest cash cow anymore by far, but it's still serious business every time.

Their respective crimes: stealing a goat, a cow and nine bicycles.

But this morning something new catches your eye: a cow grazing in the median.

Simple common sense tells you that small changes in the sun beats a cow fart anyday.

Mothers that feed the cooked, canned cow milk to their babies do miss out as this article illustrates.

It is difficult to imagine a domestic cow if not for food.

COLLAPSE

Dictionary.com Unabridged

verb (used with object)

to frighten with threats, violence, etc.; intimidate; overawe.

Origin:
1595–1605; < Old Norse kūga to oppress, cow; compare Danish kue to cow

Related forms

un·cowed, adjective

Synonyms
terrorize, scare, bully.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To cow

Collins

World English Dictionary

cow¹ (kaʊ)

—n
1.	the mature female of any species of cattle, esp domesticated cattle
2.	the mature female of various other mammals, such as the elephant, whale, and seal
3.	(not in technical use) any domestic species of cattle
4.	informal a disagreeable woman
5.	slang (Austral), (NZ) something objectionable (esp in the phrase a fair cow)
6.	informal till the cows come home for a very long time; effectively for ever

[Old English cū; related to Old Norse kӯr, Old High German kuo, Latin bōs, Greek boūs, Sanskrit gāŭs]

cow² (kaʊ)

—vb
	(tr) to frighten or overawe, as with threats

[C17: from Old Norse kūga to oppress, related to Norwegian kue, Swedish kuva]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

cow

O.E. cu, from P.Gmc. *kwon, earlier *kwom, from PIE *gwous (cf. Skt. gaus, Gk. bous, L. bov-), perhaps ult. imitative of lowing (cf. Sumerian gu, Chinese ngu, ngo "ox"). In Gmc., of females only; in other languages, of either gender.

EXPAND

cow

1605, probably from O.N. kuga "oppress," of unknown origin, but perhaps having something to do with cow (n.) on the notion of easily herded.

COLLAPSE

Slang Dictionary

cow definition

n.
a fat or ugly woman. (Cruel.) : Wouldn't you think a cow like that would go on a diet?

Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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American Heritage

Abbreviations & Acronyms

COW
cellsite on wheels

Easton

Bible Dictionary

Cow definition

A cow and her calf were not to be killed on the same day (Lev. 22:28; Ex. 23:19; Deut. 22:6, 7). The reason for this enactment is not given. A state of great poverty is described in the words of Isa. 7:21-25, where, instead of possessing great resources, a man shall depend for the subsistence of himself and his family on what a single cow and two sheep could yield.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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American Heritage

Idioms & Phrases

cow

In addition to the idiom beginning with cow, also see cash cow; holy cow; sacred cow; till the cows come home.