Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Sow \Sow\, n. [OE. sowe, suwe, AS. sugu, akin to s[=u], D. zog,
   zeug, OHG. s[=u], G. sau, Icel. s[=y]r, Dan. so, Sw. sugga,
   so, L. sus. Gr. "y^s, sy^s, Zend. hu boar; probably from the
   root seen in Skr. s[=u] to beget, to bear; the animal being
   named in allusion to its fecundity. [root]294. Cf. {Hyena},
   {Soil} to stain, {Son}, {Swine}.]
   1. (Zo["o]l.) The female of swine, or of the hog kind.

   2. (Zo["o]l.) A sow bug.

   3. (Metal.)
      (a) A channel or runner which receives the rows of molds
          in the pig bed.
      (b) The bar of metal which remains in such a runner.
      (c) A mass of solidified metal in a furnace hearth; a
          salamander.

   4. (Mil.) A kind of covered shed, formerly used by besiegers
      in filling up and passing the ditch of a besieged place,
      sapping and mining the wall, or the like. --Craig.

   {Sow bread}. (Bot.) See {Cyclamen}.

   {Sow bug}, or {Sowbug} (Zo["o]l.), any one of numerous
      species of terrestrial Isopoda belonging to {Oniscus},
      {Porcellio}, and allied genera of the family
      {Oniscid[ae]}. They feed chiefly on decaying vegetable
      substances.

   {Sow thistle} [AS. sugepistel] (Bot.), a composite plant
      ({Sonchus oleraceus}) said to be eaten by swine and some
      other animals.