bow: meaning and words from its letters
3 letters · 8 letter points · starts with B · ends with W
Meaning of bow
noun
A weapon made of a curved piece of wood or other flexible material whose ends are connected by a string, used for shooting arrows.
A curved bend in a rod or planar surface, or in a linear formation such as a river (see oxbow).
A rod with horsehair (or an artificial substitute) stretched between the ends, used for playing various stringed musical instruments.
A stringed instrument (chordophone), consisting of a stick with a single taut cord stretched between the ends, most often played by plucking.
Listed forms: bows.
Source: Wiktionary — bow.
verb
To play music on (a stringed) instrument using a bow.
Example: The musician bowed his violin expertly.
- ergative
To bend or curve, particularly downward.
Example: The shelf bowed under the weight of the books.
- figuratively, transitive
To exercise powerful or controlling influence over; to bend or incline, figuratively; to humble or subdue.
Listed forms: bows, bowing, bowed.
Source: Wiktionary — bow.
verb
- intransitive
To bend oneself as a gesture of respect or deference.
Example: That singer always bows towards her audience for some reason.
- intransitive, transitive
To debut.
- intransitive
To defer (to something).
Example: I bow to your better judgement in the matter.
- transitive
To give a direction, indication, or command to by bowing.
Listed forms: bows, bowing, bowed.
Source: Wiktionary — bow.
Adapted from Wiktionary contributors via Kaikki.org. Selected senses and forms; quotations omitted. Definition text is CC BY-SA 4.0.
Synonyms by meaning
Words are grouped by sense, so they are not necessarily interchangeable in every context. Search synonyms for bow.
noun
a knot with two loops and loose ends; used to tie shoelaces
noun
something curved in shape
noun
front part of a vessel or aircraft
noun
bending the head or body or knee as a sign of reverence or submission or shame or greeting
Open English WordNet Team, 2025, derived from Princeton University WordNet; selected synonym groups under CC BY 4.0. Source · OEWN notice · Princeton notice.
Is bow in our word lists?
| Word list | Status |
|---|---|
| American English | Found |
| British English | Found |
| Extended English | Found |
These are spelling-list matches, not official game validity checks. Check the rules and dictionary used by your game.
Letter-value score of bow
B(3) + O(1) + W(4) = 8 points.
This is a sum of letter values without board bonuses or word multipliers. A blank tile is worth zero: subtract the value of each letter supplied by a blank. The score does not establish game validity. Full letter-value table.
Anagrams of bow
0 other standard-list words use exactly these letters, including repeated letters.
No other single-word anagram was found in our standard list.
Shorter words from bow
2 shorter standard-list words can be made using no letter more often than it occurs in bow. Showing up to 24, longest first.