rowing

UK: /ˈrəʊɪŋ/

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

row¹ /roʊ/   n. [countable]

1. a number of people or things in a line:
   the rows of customers.
2. a line of seats facing the same way, as in a theater:
   seats in the front row.

Idioms

3. in a row:
   • lined up one after the other or side by side:
     all in a row, waiting to go forward.
   • happening one after the other without interruption:
     The team lost seven games in a row.

row² /roʊ/   v. 

1. Nautical, Naval Terms to move a vessel by the use of oars: [no object]
   rowing into a stiff breeze.
   [~ + object]
   He rowed the boat out to his favorite spot.
2. Nautical, Naval Terms to transport (someone) in a boat that is rowed:
   [~ + object] I rowed her back to shore.

n. [countable]

3. an act or period of rowing.
4. a trip in a rowboat.

row•er, n. [countable]

row³ /raʊ/   n. 

1. [countable] a noisy argument;
   commotion.

v. [no object]

2. to quarrel or argue noisily.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

row¹  (rō), n. 

1. a number of persons or things arranged in a line, esp. a straight line:
   a row of apple trees.
2. a line of persons or things so arranged:
   The petitioners waited in a row.
3. a line of adjacent seats facing the same way, as in a theater:
   seats in the third row of the balcony.
4. a street formed by two continuous lines of buildings.
5. Music and Dance See tone row. 
6. Games [Checkers.] one of the horizontal lines of squares on a checkerboard;
   rank.
7. hard or long row to hoe, a difficult task or set of circumstances to confront:
   At 32 and with two children, she found attending medical school a hard row to hoe.

v.t. 

8. to put in a row (often fol. by up).

• 1175–1225; Middle English row(e); compare Old English rǣw

row²  (rō), v.i. 

1. Nautical, Naval Terms to propel a vessel by the leverage of an oar or the like.

v.t. 

2. Nautical, Naval Terms to propel (a vessel) by the leverage of an oar or the like.
3. Nautical, Naval Terms to convey in a boat that is rowed.
4. to convey or propel (something) in a manner suggestive of rowing.
5. Nautical, Naval Terms to require, use, or be equipped with (a number of oars):
   The captain's barge rowed twenty oars.
6. to use (oarsmen) for rowing.
7. Naval Terms to perform or participate in by rowing:
   to row a race.
8. Naval Terms to row against in a race:
   Oxford rows Cambridge.

n. 

9. an act, instance, or period of rowing:
   It was a long row to the far bank.
10. an excursion in a rowboat:
    to go for a row.

• bef. 950; Middle English rowen, Old English rōwan; cognate with Old Norse rōa; akin to Latin rēmus oar (see remus). Cf. rudder 

row′a•ble, adj. 
row′er, n. 

row³  (rou), n. 

1. a noisy dispute or quarrel;
   commotion.
2. noise or clamor.

v.i. 

3. to quarrel noisily.

v.t. 

4. British Terms [Chiefly Brit.] to upbraid severely;
   scold.

• origin, originally uncertain 1740–50

Synonyms

• 1. spat, tiff, scrap, scrape, set-to.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

row / rəʊ/ noun

1. an arrangement of persons or things in a line: a row of chairs
2. a street, esp a narrow one lined with identical houses
3. a line of seats, as in a cinema, theatre, etc
4. a horizontal linear arrangement of numbers, quantities, or terms, esp in a determinant or matrix
5. a horizontal rank of squares on a chessboard or draughtboard
6. in a row ⇒ in succession; one after the other: he won two gold medals in a row
7. a hard row to hoe ⇒ a difficult task or assignment

Etymology: Old English rāw, rǣw; related to Old High German rīga line, Lithuanian raiwe strip

row / raʊ/ noun

1. a noisy quarrel or dispute
2. a noisy disturbance; commotion: we couldn't hear the music for the row next door
3. a reprimand

verb

1. (intransitive) often followed by with: to quarrel noisily
2. (transitive) to reprimand

Etymology: 18th Century: origin unknown

row / rəʊ/ verb

1. to propel (a boat) by using oars
2. (transitive) to carry (people, goods, etc) in a rowing boat
3. to be propelled by means of (oars or oarsmen)
4. (intransitive) to take part in the racing of rowing boats as a sport, esp in eights, in which each member of the crew pulls one oar
   Compare scull6
5. (transitive) to race against in a boat propelled by oars: Oxford row Cambridge every year

noun

1. an act, instance, period, or distance of rowing
2. an excursion in a rowing boat

Etymology: Old English rōwan; related to Middle Dutch roien, Middle High German rüejen, Old Norse rōa, Latin rēmus oar

ˈrower noun