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tow

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tow¹

  • /təʊ/ UK
  • /toʊ/ US
  • /to/ Scotland
  • /tou/ Wales

Sounds like toe (toe–tow merger) · Rhymes with -əʊ

Where it comes from

From Middle English towen, from Old English togian (“to tow”), from Proto-West Germanic *togōn, from Proto-Germanic *tugōną (“to draw, pull”), from Proto-Indo-European *dewk- (“to draw, pull; to lead”).

Cognates

Cognate with German zögern (“to hesitate, pause”), Faroese and Icelandic toga (“to pull”), French touer (“to tow, tug a ship”); also Welsh dwyn (“to steal; to take; to bring to”), Latin dūcō (“to conduct, guide, lead; to take; to draw, pull; to consider, think; to prolong; to march; to forge”), Ancient Greek δαδύσσομαι (dadússomai, “to be distracted”), Albanian nduk (“to pluck out, pull out, tear”), Central Kurdish دۆشین (doşîn, “to milk”), Northern Kurdish dotin, doşîn, دۆشین (doşîn, “to milk”), Ossetian ду́цын (dúcyn, “to milk”), Pashto لوشل (lwašal, “to milk; to extort”), Persian دوشیدن (dōšīdan / dušidan), دوشتن (duštan), دوختن (dōxtan / duxtan, “to milk”). Related to tug.

verb tows · towing · towed

  1. transitive To pull something behind one, such as by using a line, chain, or tongue. Near-synonyms: draw, haul, pull, trail

    Similar: draw, haul, pull, trail

  2. usually To aid someone behind by shielding them from wind resistance.

noun 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. A speed increase given by driving in front of another car on a straight, which causes a slipstream for the car behind. 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.

tow²

  • /təʊ/ UK
  • /toʊ/ US
  • /taʊ/

Where it comes from

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”).

noun tows

  1. countable, uncountable An untwisted bundle of fibres such as cellulose acetate, flax, hemp or jute. 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. countable, specifically, uncountable The short, coarse, less desirable fibres separated by hackling from the finer longer fibres (line).

Similar: hards, oakum

Tow³

Where it comes from

* As an English surname, variant of Tough, from the adjective tough. Also compare the Scottish surname Tulloch.

* As a Chinese surname, converged from several Romanizations, such as 陶 (Dao), 曹 (cáo) (Cao), 杜 (dù) (Du), 蘇 /苏 (sū) (Su).

proper noun Tows

  1. A surname.

TOW⁴

noun TOWs

  1. abbreviation, initialism Initialism of tube-launched, optically tracked, wire-guided: a kind of antitank missile. The American-made TOW antitank missiles began arriving in the region in 2013, through a covert program run by the United States, Saudi Arabia and other allies to help certain C.I.A.-vetted insurgent groups battle the Syrian government.

    Similar: TOW missile

phrase

  1. abbreviation, initialism, slang Initialism of The One with ... or The One Where ...: used to refer to episodes of the American television sitcom Friends. TOW the Prom Video

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: towage, towline, wrecker, haulage, tugboat, barge, boat, haul, tug, trailer, pottery, ceramic, pull, tower, drag, draw

noun

Similar: hards, oakum

Translations

Every language

verb pull something using a line

Españolremolcar, tractar
한국어끌다 kkeulda
中文拖 tuō, 拉 lā, 拽 zhuài
Portuguêsrebocar
Françaistracter, remorquer
Deutschziehen, schleppen, abschleppen, treideln
Italianotrainare, rimorchiare
Ελληνικάρυμουλκώ rymoulkó
Русскийбукси́ровать buksírovatʹ, тяну́ть tjanútʹ, тащи́ть taščítʹ

noun act of towing

Españolremolque
Portuguêsreboque
Françaisremorquage
DeutschSchleppen, Abschleppen
Ελληνικάρυμούλκηση rymoúlkisi
Русскийбуксиро́вка buksiróvka

noun something that tows

Españolremolque, remolcador
Portuguêsreboque, rebocador
DeutschSchlepper
Ελληνικάρυμουλκό rymoulkó
Русскийбукси́р buksír, тяга́ч tjagáč

noun something that is towed

Españolremolque
Portuguêsreboque
Italianorimorchio, traino

noun cable used in towing

Españolremolque, cable, cabo
Françaiscâble de remorquage, corde de remorquage
DeutschSchlepptau, Tau, Seil
Русскийбуксиро́вочный трос buksiróvočnyj tros

noun bundle of fibers

한국어토우 tou
Portuguêsestopa
Françaisétoupe, filasse
DeutschWerg, Hede
Italianocapecchio
Ελληνικάστουπί stoupí
Românăstupă
Русскийпа́кля páklja, куде́ль kudélʹ

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Cite this
MLA

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

APA

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

Chicago

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

BibTeX
@misc{tow_2026,
  title = {tow},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/tow},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}