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 (Zoöl.), any one
of numerous species of terrestrial Isopoda belonging to Oniscus,
Porcellio, and allied genera of the family Oniscidæ. 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.
Sow (?), v. t. [imp. Sowed (?); p. p. Sown (?) or Sowed; p. pr. & vb.
n. Sowing.] [OE. sowen, sawen, AS. swan; akin to OFries. s&?;a, D.
zaaijen, OS. & HG. sjan, G. säen, Icel. s, Sw. så, Dan. saae, Goth.
saian, Lith. sti, Russ. sieiate, L. serere, sevi. Cf. Saturday, Season,
Seed, Seminary.] 1. To scatter, as seed, upon the earth; to plant by
strewing; as, to sow wheat. Also used figuratively: To spread abroad;
to propagate. "He would sow some difficulty." Chaucer.
A sower went forth to sow; and when he sowed, some seeds fell by
the wayside.
Matt. xiii. 3, 4.
And sow dissension in the hearts of brothers.
Addison.
2. To scatter seed upon, in, or over; to supply or stock, as land, with
seeds. Also used figuratively: To scatter over; to besprinkle.
The intellectual faculty is a goodly field, . . . and it is the
worst husbandry in the world to sow it with trifles.
Sir M. Hale.
[He] sowed with stars the heaven.
Milton.
Now morn . . . sowed the earth with orient pearl.
Milton.
Sow, v. i. To scatter seed for growth and the production of a crop; --
literally or figuratively.
They that sow in tears shall reap in joi.
Ps. cxxvi. 5.
Sow"ans (? or ?), n. pl. See Sowens.
Sow"ar (?), n. [Per. sawr a horseman.] In India, a mounted soldier.
Sow"bane` (?), n. (Bot.) The red goosefoot (Chenopodium rubrum), --
said to be fatal to swine.