[bou] 
| 1. | to bend the knee or body or incline the head, as in reverence, submission, salutation, recognition, or acknowledgment. |
| 2. | to yield; submit: to bow to the inevitable. |
| 3. | to bend or curve downward; stoop: the pines bowed low. |
| 4. | to bend or incline (the knee, body, or head) in worship, submission, respect, civility, agreement, etc.: He bowed his head to the crowd. |
| 5. | to cause to submit; subdue; crush. |
| 6. | to cause to stoop or incline: Age had bowed his head. |
| 7. | to express by a bow: to bow one's thanks. |
| 8. | to usher (someone) with a bow (usually fol. by in, out, etc.): They were bowed in by the footman. |
| 9. | to cause to bend; make curved or crooked. |
| 10. | an inclination of the head or body in salutation, assent, thanks, reverence, respect, submission, etc. |
| 11. | bow out, to resign a position or withdraw from a job, competition, obligation, etc.: He bowed out after two terms as governor. |
| 12. | bow and scrape, to be excessively polite or deferential. |
| 13. | make one's bow, to appear publicly for the first time, as a performer, politician, etc.: The young pianist made her bow last night to an appreciative audience. |
| 14. | take a bow, to step forward or stand up in order to receive recognition, applause, etc.: The conductor had the soloists take a bow. |
take a bow
Acknowledge praise or applause, as in The conductor asked the composer to take a bow. This idiom uses bow in the sense of "inclining the body or head as a token of salutation." [c. 1800]