tow

tow

See also: Tow, TOW, tow., and tow-

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English towen, from Old English togian, from Proto-West Germanic *togōn, from Proto-Germanic *tugōną, from Proto-Indo-European *dewk-.

See also Middle High German zogen, German ziehen, Dutch tijgen, Old Norse toga.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: tō, IPA^(key): /təʊ/

  • Audio (UK)

    (file)

• (US) enPR: tō, IPA^(key): /toʊ/
• Rhymes: -əʊ
• Homophone: toe

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.
   • 2022 September 7, “At the cutting edge of NR's track work”, in RAIL, number 965, page 40, photo caption:

     In its current specification it cannot be driven and must be towed to its work location by a locomotive.

2. (running, cycling, motor racing, etc.) To aid someone behind by shielding them from wind resistance.

Descendants

• → Welsh: towio

Translations

pull something using a line

Asturian: remolcar Bulgarian: тегля (bg) (teglja) Catalan: remolcar (ca) Cebuano: guyod Chinese: Mandarin: 拖 (zh) (tuō), 拉 (zh) (lā) Czech: vléci (cs), táhnout (cs) Finnish: hinata (fi) French: tracter (fr), (vehicle) remorquer (fr) Galician: remolcar (gl), abordelar (gl), solear (gl), toar (gl), halar (gl) German: ziehen (de), schleppen (de); (of a car) abschleppen (de); (of a ship) treideln (de) Greek: ρυμουλκώ (el) (rymoulkó) Hungarian: vontat (hu) Italian: trainare (it), rimorchiare (it) Korean: 끌다 (ko) (kkeulda) Maori: tō, taki, pārete Polish: holować (pl) Portuguese: rebocar (pt) Russian: букси́ровать (ru) (buksírovatʹ) (usually of a vehicle), тяну́ть (ru) (tjanútʹ), тащи́ть (ru) (taščítʹ) Scottish Gaelic: slaod Slovak: vliecť, ťahať Spanish: remolcar (es) Swedish: bogsera (sv) Turkish: yedekte çekmek

Noun

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.
5. (motor racing) A speed increase given by driving in front of another car on a straight, which causes a slipstream for the car behind.
   • 2019 September 8, Andrew Benson, BBC Sport‎:

     On Saturday, Vettel was very unhappy with Leclerc's failure to work out a way through the traffic and give him a tow for the second runs in qualifying, as had been agreed.

Derived terms

Terms derived from the noun tow

• in tow / on tow
• ski tow
• tow rope
• tow truck
• towy
• under tow
• undertow

Translations

act of towing

Bulgarian: теглене (bg) n (teglene), буксир m (buksir) Czech: vlečení (cs) n, tažení n, odtažení n French: remorquage (fr) m Galician: remolque German: Schleppen (de) n, Abschleppen n Greek: ρυμούλκηση (el) f (rymoúlkisi) Latvian: vilkšana f Polish: holowanie (pl) n Portuguese: reboque (pt) Russian: буксиро́вка (ru) f (buksiróvka) Spanish: remolque (es) m

something that tows

Czech: tahač m (truck), remorkér m (boat) German: Schlepper (de) m Greek: ρυμουλκό (el) n (rymoulkó) Latvian: vilcējs m Portuguese: reboque (pt), rebocador (pt) Russian: букси́р (ru) m (buksír), тяга́ч (ru) m (tjagáč) Spanish: remolque (es) m, remolcador m (boat)

something that is towed

Italian: rimorchio (it) m, traino (it) m Portuguese: reboque (pt) Spanish: remolque (es) m

cable used in towing

Bulgarian: буксирно въже n (buksirno vǎže) Czech: vlečné lano n Dutch: sleeptouw (nl) n, trekkabel m French: câble de remorquage m, corde de remorquage f German: Schlepptau (de) n, Tau (de) n, Seil (de) n Latvian: virve f Polish: hol (pl) m Russian: буксиро́вочный трос m (buksiróvočnyj tros) Spanish: remolque (es) m, cable (es) m, cabo (es) m

Etymology 2

From Middle English touw, from Old English tow- (“spinning”) (in compounds, e.g. towcræft, towhūs, towlic), from Proto-Germanic *tawwą; compare Old Norse tó (“uncleansed wool”), Dutch touw (“rope”). Perhaps cognate with Old English tawian (“prepare for use”), Gothic 𐍄𐌰𐌿𐌾𐌰𐌽 (taujan, “do, make”).[1]

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: tō, IPA^(key): /təʊ/, (rare) enPR: tou, IPA^(key): /taʊ/

  • Audio (UK)

    (file)

  • Audio (UK)

    (file)

• (US) enPR: tō, IPA^(key): /toʊ/

Noun

tow (countable and uncountable, plural tows)

1. An untwisted bundle of fibres such as cellulose acetate, flax, hemp or jute.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Isaiah 1:31:

     And the strong shall be as towe, and the maker of it as a sparke, and they shall both burne together, and none shall quench them.

2. (specifically) The short, coarse, less desirable fibres separated by hackling from the finer longer fibres (line).

Synonyms

• hards, oakum

Derived terms

• tow haired
• towhead

Related terms

• taw

Translations

bundle of fibers

Basque: iztupa Breton: stoub (br) m Bulgarian: кълчища n pl (kǎlčišta) Corsican: stoppa f Czech: koudel (cs) f Danish: blår n Dutch: werk (nl) n, hede (nl) f French: étoupe (fr) f, filasse (fr) f Galician: estopa f, tomento m German: Werg (de) n, Hede f Greek: στουπί (el) n (stoupí) Ancient: στυππεῖον n (stuppeîon) Ido: stupo (io) Italian: capecchio (it) m Korean: 토우 (ko) (tou) Latvian: pakulas f pl Maori: ngai, pūngahungahu Norwegian: Bokmål: stry n Nynorsk: stry n Polish: pakuły (pl) pl Portuguese: estopa (pt) f Romanian: stupă (ro) Russian: па́кля (ru) f (páklja) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: ку̀чина f Roman: kùčina (sh) f Sicilian: stuppa (scn) f Slovak: kúdeľ f, priadza f Swedish: drev (sv) n, blånor (sv) c pl Ukrainian: кло́ччя (uk) n (klóččja) Welsh: carth m, breisgion m pl West Frisian: hjidde

References

1. Douglas Harper (2001–2023), “tow”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Anagrams

• OTW, WTO, owt, two, wot

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Middle English

Alternative forms

• towe, towȝ, towȝe, tough, towhe, togh, tawe, toow

Etymology

From Old English tow-, from Proto-Germanic *tawwą; for more see English tow.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tɔu̯/
• Rhymes: -ɔu̯

Noun

tow

1. Unprepared flax, especially used as a firestarter.
2. The fibrous matter of flax or a similar plant; (tow).
3. Oakum, hards; the rough portion of flax separated during hackling.

Descendants

• English: tow
• Scots: towe

References

• “tou, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-05-27.