meow

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English

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A pleading cat.

Alternative forms

Etymology

Alteration of earlier mew, from Middle English mewen (“to mew, meow”), of onomatopoeic origin.

Compare Saterland Frisian mauje, miauje (“to meow”), West Frisian miaukje (“to meow”), Dutch miauwen (“to meow”), Middle Low German mauwen, mawen, mouwen (“to meow”) (whence modern German Low German mauen, miauen (“to meow”)), Middle High German mouen, modern German miauen (“to meow”). Some spellings were modelled on French miaou. Meow and its spelling variants entered widespread currency in the 19th century, mostly replacing mew, possibly as phonetic change meant that word had ceased to approximate a cat's cry (note the pronunciation of Middle English mewen /ˈmɛu̯ən/ compared to modern /ˈmjuː/).

Pronunciation

  • (US) IPA(key): /miˈaʊ̯/, /mjaʊ̯/
  • Audio (AU)(file)
  • Rhymes: -aʊ

Interjection

meow

  1. The cry of a cat.
    Synonyms: (anime and manga fandom) nyao, nyan, nyaa
  2. (colloquial) Said in reply to a spiteful or catty comment.
  3. (colloquial) Expressing seductiveness, mimicking a growl.

Translations

Noun

meow (countable and uncountable, plural meows)

  1. (countable) The cry of a cat.
    • 1968, Bob Dylan (lyrics and music), “Quinn the Eskimo”:
      A cat’s meow and a cow’s moo, I can recite them all / Just tell me where it hurts you, honey
  2. (UK, slang, uncountable) The drug mephedrone.
    Synonyms: drone, meow meow

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

meow (third-person singular simple present meows, present participle meowing, simple past and past participle meowed)

  1. (intransitive) Of a cat, to make its cry.

Conjugation

Conjugation of meow
infinitive (to) meow
present tense past tense
1st-person singular meow meowed
2nd-person singular meow, meowest†
3rd-person singular meows, meoweth†
plural meow
subjunctive meow meowed
imperative meow —
participles meowing meowed

Synonyms

Translations

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