ow

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See also: Appendix:Variations of "ow"

English

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈaʊ/
  • Audio (US):(file)
    Rhymes: -aʊ
  • Homophone: our (some dialects)

Interjection

ow

  1. Synonym of ouch (“cry of pain”).
  2. (music) Used for emotional emphasis.
    • 1970, Free, “All Right Now”:
      Now don't you wait or hesitate / Let's move before they raise the parking rate, ow!
    • 1987, Michael Jackson, “Smooth Criminal”:
      Then you ran into the bedroom / You were struck down / It was your doom, Annie / Ow!

Noun

ow (plural ows)

  1. An uttering of an 'ow'.
    • 1950, Norman Lindsay, Dust or Polish?, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 98:
      Improvising a stretcher from a cupboard door, they levered Mrs Dibble on to it and got her upstairs to "Hoos!" and "Ows!" of anguish, and laid her on the bed, where Rita administered another stiff dose of gin.

Usage notes

In everyday colloquial (spoken or written) usage, the sound may be lengthened, such as in the form oww, usually to indicate an increase in pain or distress.

Derived terms

Anagrams

Chinook Jargon

Noun

ow

  1. younger brother

Coordinate terms

  • (with regards to gender): ats
  • (with regards to age): kahpo

Cornish

Etymology 1

From Proto-Brythonic *wurt.

Alternative forms

  • owth (used before vowels and h)

Particle

ow (triggers hard mutation)

  1. -ing (precedes verbal noun)

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Determiner

ow (triggers aspirate mutation)

  1. my (first person singular possessive determiner)
See also
Cornish personal pronouns
number person independent
(subject) 		suffixed infixed possessive
(dependent)
enclitic emphatic reduced
singular first my vy evy ma, a 'm owA
second ty jy, sy1 tejy ta, a 'thM dhaS
third2 m ev ev eev va, a 'n yS
f hi hi hyhi N/A 's hyA
plural first ni ni nyni 'gan, 'n agan, 'gan
second3 hwi hwi hwyhwi 'gas, 's agas, 'gas
third i i ynsi 's agaA, 'gaA

1 Uncommon.
2 hun and ins have been suggested as non-binary 3rd person singular pronouns, though these have not yet officially adopted.
3 Infrequently used as a formal alternative to the singular.

S Triggers soft mutation A Triggers aspirate mutation M Triggers mixed mutation

Middle English

Pronoun

ow

  1. alternative form of yow

Tagalog

Etymology

From English o, the English name of the letter O / o.

Pronunciation

Noun

ow (Baybayin spelling ᜂᜏ᜔)

  1. alternative form of o: the name of the Latin-script letter O/o, in the Filipino alphabet
    Synonym: (in the Abakada alphabet and the Abecedario) o

See also

Further reading

  • “ow”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018
Wikious
Boobota
Sagapedia