plow

American  

[plou] / plaʊ /

especially British, plough

noun

• plows
  plural

1. an agricultural implement used for cutting, lifting, turning over, and partly pulverizing soil.

2. any of various implements resembling or suggesting this, as a kind of plane for cutting grooves or a contrivance for clearing away snow from a road or track.

3. Type Founding. (formerly) an instrument for cutting the groove in the foot of type.

4. Bookbinding. a device for trimming the edges of the leaves by hand.

5. (initial capital letter)

   1. the constellation Ursa Major.

   2. the Big Dipper.

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verb (used with object)

• plows,
  present (3rd person singular)
• plowed,
  past participle,  past
• plowing
  present participle

1. to turn up (soil) with a plow.

2. to make (a furrow) with a plow.

3. to tear up, cut into, or make a furrow, groove, etc. in (a surface) with or as if with a plow (often followed byup ).

   The tractor plowed up an acre of trees.

4. to clear by the use of a plow, especially a snowplow (sometimes followed byout ).

   The city's work crews were busily plowing the streets after the blizzard.

5. to invest, as capital (often followed byinto ).

   to plow several hundred million into developing new oil fields.

6. to reinvest or reutilize (usually followed byback ).

   to plow profits back into new plants and equipment.

7. (of a ship, boat, animal, etc.)

   1. to cleave the surface of (the water).

      beavers plowing the pond.

   2. to make (a way) or follow (a course) in this manner.

      The yacht plowed an easterly course through the choppy Atlantic.

8. Slang: Vulgar. to have sexual intercourse with.

verb (used without object)

• plows,
  present (3rd person singular)
• plowed,
  past participle,  past
• plowing
  present participle

1. to till the soil or work with a plow.

2. to take plowing in a specified way.

   land that plows easily.

3. to move forcefully through something in the manner of a plow (often followed by through, into, along, etc.).

   The cop plowed through the crowd, chasing after the thief. The car plowed into our house.

4. to proceed in a slow, laborious, and steady manner (often followed bythrough ).

   The researcher plowed through a pile of reports.

5. to move through water by cleaving the surface.

   a ship plowing through a turbulent sea.

verb phrase

1. plow under

   1. to bury under soil by plowing.

   2. to cause to disappear; force out of existence; overwhelm.

      Many mom-and-pop groceries have been plowed under by the big chain stores.

plow British  

/ plaʊ /

noun

1. the usual US spelling of plough

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• plowability
  noun
• plower
  noun
• subplow
  noun
• overplow
  verb
• subplow
  verb
• replow
  verb (used with object)
• plowable
  adjective
• unplowable
  adjective
• unplowed
  adjective
• well-plowed
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• plows
  plural

Participles

• plowing
  present
• plowed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• plow
  simple
• plows
  simple
• have plowed
  perfect
• has plowed
  perfect
• am plowing
  progressive
• are plowing
  progressive
• is plowing
  progressive
• have been plowing
  perfect progressive
• has been plowing
  perfect progressive

Past

• plowed
  simple
• had plowed
  perfect
• was plowing
  progressive
• were plowing
  progressive
• had been plowing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will plow
  simple
• will have plowed
  perfect
• will be plowing
  progressive
• will have been plowing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of plow

before 1100; Middle English plouh, plugh ( e ), plough ( e ), Old English plōh; cognate with German Pflug plow

Explanation

A plow is a large tool used for farming. A farmer drives or pulls a plow across a field to prepare it for planting. The large blades of a plow break up the earth, cutting and turning it so it's loose and ready to be planted with seeds. When you operate a plow, you can say that you plow. Boats can plow through water, too — in fact, anything that moves forcibly forward also plows: a car plows through traffic, and figuratively, a student plows through her homework.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

plow plows plowed plowing

Meanwhile, the strength of a brand like “60 Minutes” is its ability to plow through heavy seas emanating from corporate politics—that is, unless overly entitled employees muff it up.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026

What one strategist argues, therefore, is that investors should plow capital into the energy stocks providing the raw materials that technology stocks desperately require to grow.

From MarketWatch ● May 15, 2026

Management will plow excess cash flow into share repurchases.

From Barron's ● May 1, 2026

Back then the farm he lived on had more than a dozen dairy cows, plus sheep, pigs and plow horses, since his family didn’t have a tractor.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 12, 2026

To believe in his theory you had to accept that massive continents somehow pushed through solid crust, like a plow through soil, without leaving any furrow in their wake.

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson

When it snows, for example, the city plows the streets, but property owners sometimes must clear the sidewalks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026

Musical tastes are subjective, but the feel-good hit plows through all barriers.

From Salon ● Apr. 4, 2026

In Providence, a city spokesman told The Providence Journal that more than 300 vehicles had been towed for parking in the way of plows.

From BBC ● Feb. 23, 2026

Caltrans plows were plowing Interstate 15, the CHP said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 27, 2025

I can feel the excitement of the students, as he, without any hesitation, plows straight into the rock.

From "I'll Give You the Sun" by Jandy Nelson

Still, the next day, June 23, CBS News’ website plowed the same dead-end road with this headline: “Vance Says Iran to Let International Nuclear Inspections Resume After ‘Good Day’ of Talks.”

From Slate ● Jun. 24, 2026

According to brokerage statements viewed by MarketWatch, smellyfingernail liquidated his Roth IRA holdings last Tuesday and plowed the money into 1,478 shares of SpaceX at $211 apiece.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 23, 2026

A tearful Nancy Iskander told jurors that she was crossing a road when she saw her two older sons disappear as a white speeding Mercedes plowed through the crosswalk.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 6, 2026

A large chunk of the cash SoftBank has plowed into OpenAI has come from borrowing against the swelling value of SoftBank’s stake in Arm Holdings, the chip designer.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 4, 2026

The chariot veered off course and plowed through the strawberry fields, the mechanical horses steaming.

From "The Sea of Monsters" by Rick Riordan

Since lettuce has about a 30-day growing cycle, farmers that are plowing their crops back into the ground are weighing whether to replant or dial back.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026

The tech sector is expected to report robust earnings growth, but the real focus for investors is whether megacap tech companies are plowing ever-greater sums into AI investments.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026

Investors piled into shares of companies benefiting from the massive spending of the so-called hyperscalers — the tech giants plowing hundreds of billions of dollars into building artificial-intelligence data centers across the U.S.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 5, 2026

Other companies are plowing forward where Monarch has failed.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 15, 2026

Years earlier, as a girl, she had helped him during plowing season, driving his tractor from afternoon until late at night.

From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston

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