Tow meaning

tō
The coarse and broken fibers of hemp, flax, etc. before spinning.
noun
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Tow is defined as to drag behind, often with a rope or chain.

An example of tow is for a truck to pull a disabled vehicle to the repair shop.

verb
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An untwisted bundle of fibers such as cellulose acetate, flax, hemp or jute.
noun
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A rope or cable used in towing.
noun
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The definition of a tow is something being dragged, or the broken fibers of hemp or flax before spinning into thread.

An example of a tow is a boat being pulled along by a truck.

An example of tow is a broken flax fiber.

noun
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Tow means related to a device for dragging.

An example of tow used as an adjective is the phrase "tow truck," which means a truck for pulling disabled vehicles.

adjective
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To draw or pull behind by a chain or line.

A tugboat towing a barge.

verb
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The act or an instance of towing.

Can you give my car a tow?

noun
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A rope or cable used in towing.
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Coarse broken flax or hemp fiber.
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A continuous untwisted bundle of manufactured fibers.
noun
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To pull by a rope or chain.
verb
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To pull or drag behind.
verb
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A towing or being towed.
noun
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Something towed.
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noun
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Of or resembling tow.
adjective
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To pull something behind one using a line or chain; to haul.
verb
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The act of towing and the condition of being towed.

It isn't the car's battery, I think I need a tow.

noun
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Something, such as a tugboat, that tows.
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Something, such as a barge, that is towed.
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in tow
  • In a condition of being towed:.
    A car with a trailer in tow.
  • Under close guidance; in one's charge:.
    The new student was taken in tow by a peer counselor.
  • As a companion or follower:.
    Came to dinner with a friend in tow.
idiom
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in tow
  • Being towed.
  • In one's company or retinue.
  • Under one's control or charge.
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Idioms and Phrasal Verbs

Origin of tow

  • Middle English possibly from Old English tow- spinning (in towcræft spinning craft, spinning)
    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
  • Middle English towen from Old English togian deuk- in Indo-European roots
    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
  • Origin uncertain; compare Old Norse tó (“uncleansed wool"), Old English tow- (“spinning") (in compounds, e.g. towcræft, towhÅ«s), perhaps cognate with Gothic 𐍄𐌰𐌿𐌾𐌰𐌽 (taujan, “do, make").
    From Wiktionary
  • Old English toÄ¡ian, from Proto-Germanic *tugōnÄ… (German ziehen, Dutch tijgen), from Proto-Indo-European *dewk-.
    From Wiktionary

Tow Sentence Examples

  • Said he'd cut it on his tow bar.

  • Carmen's truck broke down and I'm going to tow it home for her.

  • A tow truck had already arrived and its flashing lights competed with a half dozen others while at least a dozen people moved about, with most of their activity directed downward.

  • The Columbia plateau consists of horizontal beds of lava having a total thickness of several thousand feet, and its surface has a general elevation of tow to 2000 ft.

  • 276-324), a celebrated antiquary who recognized in the adjacent mountain peaks a correspondence with the stars in the constellation of the Great Bear, from which circumstance the town was first known as the Tow or Great Bear city.

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Words near tow in the Dictionary