tow

English

Wikipedia

Pronunciation

• (RP) enPR: tō, IPA: /təʊ/
• (US) enPR: tō, IPA: /toʊ/
• Rhymes: -əʊ
• Homophones: toe

Etymology 1

Old English toġian, from Proto-Germanic *tugōnan (German ziehen, Dutch tijgen), from Proto-Indo-European *dewk-.

Verb

tow (third-person singular simple present tows, present participle towing, simple past and past participle towed)

1. (transitive) To pull something behind one using a line or chain; to haul.

Translations

pull something using a line

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 拖 (cmn) (tuō), 拉 (cmn) (lā)

• Czech: vléci (cs), táhnout (cs)
• Finnish: hinata (fi)
• French: tracter (fr), (vehicle) remorquer (fr)
• German: schleppen (de), abschleppen (de)
• Greek: ρυμουλκώ (el) (rymoulkó)

• Polish: holować (pl)
• Portuguese: rebocar (pt)
• Russian: буксировать (ru) (buksírovat') (usually of a vehicle)}, тянуть (ru) (tjanút'), тащить (ru) (taščít')
• Scottish Gaelic: slaod (gd)
• Slovak: vliecť (sk), ťahať (sk)
• Spanish: remolcar (es)
• Turkish: yedekte çekmek (tr)

Noun

Wikipedia tow (plural tows)

1. The act of towing and the condition of being towed.

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

2. Something, such as a tugboat, that tows.
3. Something, such as a barge, that is towed.
4. A rope or cable used in towing.

Translations

act of towing

• French: remorquage (fr) m
• German: Schleppen (de) n, Abschleppen (de) n
• Latvian: vilkšana (lv) f
• Polish: holowanie (pl) n

• Portuguese: reboque (pt)
• Russian: буксировка (ru) (buksiróvka) f
• Spanish: remolque (es) m

something that tows

• German: Schlepper (de) m
• Latvian: vilcējs (lv) m
• Portuguese: reboque (pt), rebocador (pt)

• Russian: буксир (ru) (buksír) m, тягач (ru) (tjagáč) m
• Spanish: remolque (es) m, remolcador (es) m (boat)

something that is towed

• Portuguese: reboque (pt)

• Spanish: remolque (es) m

cable used in towing

• Czech: vlečné lano (cs) n
• Dutch: sleeptouw (nl) n, trekkabel (nl) m
• French: câble de remorquage m, corde de remorquage f
• German: Schlepptau (de) n

• Latvian: virve (lv) f
• Polish: hol (pl) m
• Russian: буксировочный трос (ru) (buksiróvočnyj tros) m
• Spanish: remolque (es) m

Derived terms

Terms derived from the noun tow

in tow / on tow tow rope tow truck

towy under tow undertow

Etymology 2

Origin uncertain; compare Old Norse tó (“uncleansed wool”), Old English tow- (“spinning”) (in compounds, e.g. towcræft, towhūs), perhaps cognate with Gothic 𐍄𐌰𐌿𐌾𐌰𐌽 (taujan, “do, make”).

Noun

tow (plural tows)

1. An untwisted bundle of fibers such as cellulose acetate, flax, hemp or jute.

Derived terms

• tow haired
• towhead

Related terms

• taw

Translations

bundle of fibers

• French: étoupe (fr) f
• Italian: capecchio (it) m
• Latvian: pakulas (lv) f pl
• Polish: pakuły (pl) pl

• Romanian: stupă (ro)
• Russian: пакля (ru) (páklja) f
• Slovak: kúdeľ (sk) f, priadza (sk) f

Anagrams

• OTW, owt, two, wot, WTO