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

To pay for the condo, we sold a chunk of investments, but we expect to plow money from our home sale back into our portfolio.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 23, 2026

Even though no U.S.-grown lettuce or other produce has been linked to the outbreaks, demand from grocers and restaurants is down, causing some farmers to plow their crops back into the ground.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026

First, SK Hynix plans to plow the entire amount raised into fabrication plants, machinery, and equipment.

From Barron's ● Jun. 24, 2026

Son shed vast holdings of T-Mobile, Alibaba and even Nvidia as he sought to plow money into OpenAI, data centers and robotics.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 4, 2026

My hands clap onto my ears, elbows out, and I plow my head into Mom’s stomach, as if I’m five again.

From "Muffled" by Jennifer Gennari

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

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

Roads slowed to a crawl as plows struggled to keep up, and officials urged drivers to stay home if possible.

From Salon ● Dec. 27, 2025

Almost every year in the United States, a tractor-trailer plows into traffic that is stopped because of road construction, often causing deaths and injuries.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 29, 2024

As an agent for the Union Pacific, he single-handedly saved Colorado’s wool trade during a blizzard by ramming locomotive plows through snowdrifts to open the tracks for trains bearing sheep feed.

From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand

Hundreds of billions are already being plowed into the build-out: Whatever investors decide for the future, “the infrastructure already built doesn’t disappear,” Swiss Re’s Haegeli said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 5, 2026

A week or two prior, he said, an out-of-control motorist nearly plowed into the statue of Amelia Earhart that sits next to a library bearing the famous aviator’s name.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026

The chances of finding earthquake survivors in Colombia dropped significantly on Friday, four days after the 7.4-magnitude tremor struck, though rescue efforts plowed ahead as hundreds remained missing.

From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026

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

I plowed on until I came to where the hemlocks began to border the road, casting a cool shadow on the snow.

From "My Brother Sam is Dead" by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier

Surging memory prices and borrowing costs have fueled fears that those and other companies will be unable to keep plowing more money into supplies including Nvidia chips.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026

She said many growers in California are also plowing their crops back into the ground.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026

And then there’s the annual plowing of millions in DWP surplus dollars into the City Hall piggy bank, which convinces ratepayers they’re being fleeced.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026

And long before ChatGPT became ubiquitous, Khosla was plowing money into the experimental technology.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026

After he had harvested the bits that were longest—and farthest away from her claws—Osh spent a moment plowing through her remaining fur, yanking ticks as he found them.

From "Beyond the Bright Sea" by Lauren Wolk

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