tow
noun · verb
Simple meaning
Towing and being towed.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
tohIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈtoʊ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
The act of towing and the condition of being towed.
Something, such as a tugboat, that tows.
Something, such as a barge, that is towed.
A rope or cable used in towing.
An untwisted bundle of fibres such as cellulose acetate, flax, hemp or jute.
verb
Drag behind
“Horses used to tow barges along the canal.”
transitive
To pull something behind one, such as by using a line, chain, or tongue.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The act of towing and the condition of being towed.
Used this way, tow is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use tow
- “Horses used to tow barges along the canal.”verb
- “The truck gave him a tow to the garage.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.