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arrow¹

  • /ˈæ.ɹəʊ/ UK
  • [ˈæ.ɹəʊ̯] UK
  • [ˈa.ɹəw] British, Southern, Standard
  • /ˈæ.ɹoʊ/ US
  • [ˈæ.ɹoʊ̯] US
  • /ˈeɹ.oʊ̯/ US
  • [ˈeɹ.oʊ̯] US
  • /ˈæɹəʉ/ Australia
  • [ˈæɹəʉ̯] Australia
  • /ˈɛɹɐʉ/ New Zealand
  • [ˈɛɹɐʉ̯] New Zealand
  • /ˈaɾo/ Scotland
  • [ˈaɾo] Scotland
  • /ˈaɾou/ Wales
  • [ˈaɾɔu̯] ~ [ˈaɾou̯] Wales
  • /ˈæɹə/ Estuary English, Mid Atlantic, Southern US
  • [ˈæɹə] Estuary English, Mid Atlantic, Southern US

Rhymes with -æɹəʊ

Where it comes from

From Middle English arwe, from Old English earh (“arrow”) (oblique form ēarw-), from Proto-West Germanic *arhu (“arrow”), from Proto-Germanic *arhwō (“arrow”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂érkʷo- (“bow, arrow”). Cognate with Faroese ørv, ørvur (“arrow”), Icelandic ör (“arrow”), örvar (“arrows”), Gothic 𐌰𐍂𐍈𐌰𐌶𐌽𐌰 (arƕazna, “dart”), Asturian and Leonese arcu (“bow”), Aragonese, Galician, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish arco (“bow”), Catalan, French, and Romanian arc (“bow”), Latin arcus (“bow”). Doublet of arch, arc, arco, and arcus.

noun arrows

  1. A projectile consisting of a shaft, a point and a tail with stabilizing fins that is shot from a bow. The Citizens in their rage, imagining that euery poſt in the Churche had bin one of yᵉ Souldyers, ſhot habbe or nabbe at randon^([sic – meaning random]) uppe to the Roode lofte, and to the Chancell, leauing ſome of theyr arrowes ſticking in the Images.

    Similar: streal

  2. A sign or symbol used to indicate a direction (e.g.→). Consider now the arrow with initial point A and terminal point B; this arrow we shall designate by #92;overrightarrow#123;AB#125;. If a#95;1,a#95;2,a#95;3, and b#95;1,b#95;2,b#95;3 are the coordinates of A and B, respectively, then #92;overrightarrow#123;AB#125; is equal to the arrow #92;overrightar
  3. A directed edge.

    Similar: arc, directed edge

  4. A morphism.
  5. colloquial A dart. The second arrow flew through the air in a drunken parabolic curve and nestled just below the previous dart. Twenty! “Good arrows!” came from all around the room. Total silence came from the opposition corner.
  6. The -> symbol, which has specific meanings in various programming languages.
  7. The inflorescence or tassel of a mature sugar cane plant. When the bulb of the “blowing ball” is operated, a gentle spray, much like what happens in Nature when a sugar cane arrow is shaken by the wind or gently tapped, is given out at the free end of the capsule and can be directed to any portion of the arrow as desired.

verb arrows · arrowing · arrowed

  1. intransitive To move swiftly and directly (like an arrow). Above his head, a startled bird arrows up, into the sun.
  2. transitive To let fly swiftly and directly. Jermain Defoe dinked in an equaliser and Gareth Bale hit the crossbar for the hosts before Elliott Bennett arrowed in Norwich's winner.
  3. intransitive, of a sugar cane plant To develop an inflorescence. The more vigorous and luxuriant the vegetation of a field of canes, the less will the tendency to flowering be shewn; whereas nearly all the canes will be found to arrow if the soil be poor and the vegetation meagre.
  4. intransitive To navigate using the arrow keys. Arrow left until you reach the start of the text you want to delete.
  5. Singapore, Singlish, transitive To single out or nominate (someone) to be responsible for something, especially an undesirable task. Just because I never come for meeting … my boss arrow me to do this job.

arrow²

  • /ˈæ.ɹəʊ/ UK
  • [ˈæ.ɹəʊ̯] UK
  • [ˈa.ɹəw] British, Southern, Standard
  • /ˈæ.ɹoʊ/ US
  • [ˈæ.ɹoʊ̯] US
  • /ˈeɹ.oʊ̯/ US
  • [ˈeɹ.oʊ̯] US
  • /ˈæɹəʉ/ Australia
  • [ˈæɹəʉ̯] Australia
  • /ˈɛɹɐʉ/ New Zealand
  • [ˈɛɹɐʉ̯] New Zealand
  • /ˈaɾo/ Scotland
  • [ˈaɾo] Scotland
  • /ˈaɾou/ Wales
  • [ˈaɾɔu̯] ~ [ˈaɾou̯] Wales
  • /ˈæɹə/ Estuary English, Mid Atlantic, Southern US
  • [ˈæɹə] Estuary English, Mid Atlantic, Southern US

Rhymes with -æɹəʊ

Where it comes from

Representing pronunciation.

contraction

  1. abbreviation, contraction, obsolete Contraction of ever + a, sometimes used with a redundant a or an. though he hath lived here this many years, I don't believe there is arrow a servant in the house ever saw the colour of his money.

Arrow³

proper noun

  1. A surname.
  2. A village on the River Arrow in Arrow with Weethley parish, Stratford-on-Avon district, Warwickshire, England (OS grid ref SP0856).
  3. A river in Warwickshire and Worcestershire, England, which flows into the Warwickshire Avon.
  4. A river in Powys, Wales and Herefordshire, England, which flows into the River Lugg.
  5. A river in Otago, New Zealand, which flows through Arrowtown to the Kawarau River.
  6. An unincorporated community and old coal town in Pike County, Kentucky, United States.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: pointer, archer, archery, dart, arrowhead, bolt, spike, rope, roof, steering, array, rocket, boom, spit, vert, stock

Translations

Every language

noun symbol

Españolflecha
한국어화살표 hwasalpyo
日本語矢印 yajirushi
中文箭號 /箭号 jiànhào, 箭頭 /箭头 jiàntóu
Portuguêsseta
Françaisflèche
DeutschPfeil
Italianofreccia
Ελληνικάβέλος vélos, βελάκι veláki, δείκτης deíktis
Românăsăgeată
Русскийстре́лка strélka
Tiếng Việtmũi tên
العربيةسَهْم sahm
עבריתחץ khetz

noun projectile

Españolflecha, saeta
한국어화살 hwasal
日本語矢 ya
中文箭 jiàn, 矢 shǐ, 箭頭 /箭头 jiàntóu
हिन्दीतीर tīr, बाण bāṇ
Kiswahilimshale
Portuguêsflecha, seta
Françaisflèche
DeutschPfeil
Italianofreccia
Ελληνικάβέλος vélos, σαΐτα saḯta
Românăsăgeată
Русскийстрела́ strelá
Tiếng Việtmũi tên, tên
العربيةسَهْم sahm
עבריתחֵץ khets

Talk about this word

Cite this
MLA

"arrow." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/arrow. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

arrow. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/arrow

Chicago

"arrow." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/arrow.

BibTeX
@misc{arrow_2026,
  title = {arrow},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/arrow},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}