sowing

UK: /ˈsəʊɪŋ/

From the verb sow: (⇒ conjugate)

sowing is: ⓘ

v pres p

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

sow¹ /soʊ/   v., sowed, sown /soʊn/  or sowed, sow•ing. 

1. Agriculture to scatter (seed) over or on (land, etc.), for growth;
   plant: [~ + object]
   to sow seeds on the farm.
   [~ + object]
   to sow the farm with seeds.
   [no object]
   It was not quite time for sowing.
2. to introduce, begin, or spread:
   [~ + object] sowing distrust among his coworkers.

Idioms

3. Idioms sow one's wild oats, to behave in a reckless way, esp. by having many sexual partners due to youth and immaturity:
   to sow their wild oats before getting married.
4. sow the seeds of, [~ + object] to cause (something, esp. something undesirable) to develop:
   to sow the seeds of hatred.

sow•er, n. [countable]

sow² /saʊ/   n. [countable]

1. Animal Husbandry an adult female pig.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

sow¹ (sō),  v., sowed, sown or sowed, sow•ing. 

v.t. 

1. Agriculture to scatter (seed) over land, earth, etc., for growth;
   plant.
2. Agriculture to plant seed for:
   to sow a crop.
3. Agriculture to scatter seed over (land, earth, etc.) for the purpose of growth.
4. to implant, introduce, or promulgate;
   seek to propagate or extend;
   disseminate:
   to sow distrust or dissension.
5. to strew or sprinkle with anything.

v.i. 

6. Agriculture to sow seed, as for the production of a crop.

• bef. 900; Middle English sowen, Old English sāwan; cognate with Dutch zaaien, German säen, Old Norse sā, Gothic saian; akin to seed, Latin sēmen seed, serere to sow

sow′a•ble, adj. 
sow′er, n. 
Synonyms

• 4. inject, lodge, circulate.

sow² (sou),  n. 

1. Animal Husbandry an adult female swine.
2. Zoology the adult female of various other animals, as the bear.
3. Metallurgy
   • a large oblong mass of iron that has solidified in the common channel through which the molten metal flows to the smaller channels in which the pigs solidify.
   • the common channel itself.
   • a basin holding any of certain molten nonferrous metals to be cast.

• bef. 900; Middle English sowe, Old English sugu; cognate with German Sau, Old Norse sȳr, Latin sūs, Greek hûs, Tocharian B suwo; see swine

sow′like′, adj. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

sow / səʊ/ verb (sows, sowing, sowed, sown, sowed)

1. to scatter or place (seed, a crop, etc) in or on (a piece of ground, field, etc) so that it may grow: to sow wheat, to sow a strip of land
2. (transitive) to implant or introduce: to sow a doubt in someone's mind

Etymology: Old English sāwan; related to Old Norse sā, Old High German sāen, Old Slavonic seja, Latin serere to sow

ˈsower noun

sow / saʊ/ noun

1. a female adult pig
2. the female of certain other animals, such as the mink
3. the channels for leading molten metal to the moulds in casting pig iron
4. iron that has solidified in these channels

Etymology: Old English sugu; related to Old Norse sӯr, Old High German sū, Latin sūs, Norwegian sugga, Dutch zeug: see swine