bow

Universal Words verb, noun-see also BOW verb 1 [V] ~ (down) (to / before sb/sth) to move your head or the top half of your body forwards and downwards as a sign of respect or as a greeting: He bowed low to the assembled crowd. * The people all bowed down before the Emperor. 2 [VN] to move your head forwards and downwards: She bowed her head in shame. * They stood in silence with their heads bowed. 3 to bend or make sth bend: [V] The pines bowed in the wind. * [VN] Their backs were bowed under the weight of their packs. IDIOMS bow and scrape (disapproving) to be too polite to an important person in order to gain their approval: She was beginning to tire of all their bowing and scraping. moreatSHOTn. PHRASALVERBS bow down to sb/sth (disapproving) to allow sb to tell you what to do bow out (of sth) to stop taking part in an activity, especially one in which you have been successful in the past: She has finally decided it's time to bow out of international tennis. bow to sth to agree unwillingly to do sth because other people want you to: They finally bowed to pressure from the public. * She bowed to the inevitable (= accepted a situation in which she had no choice) and resigned. noun 1 the act of bending your head or the upper part of your body forward in order to greet sb or to show respect: She gave a slight bow of her head in greeting. * The messenger made a formal bow and left the room. 2 (also bows [pl.]) the front part of a boat or ship compareSTERNn. IDIOMS take a / your bow (of a performer) to bow to the audience as they are APPLAUDING you: She came back on stage to take another bow. moreatSHOT noun, verb-see also BOW noun 1 a weapon used for shooting arrows, consisting of a long curved piece of wood with a tight string joining its ends: He was armed with a bow and arrow. 2 a knot with two LOOPS and two loose ends which is used for decoration on clothes, in hair, etc. or for tying shoes: to tie your shoelaces in a bow * Her hair was tied back in a neat bow. * a dress decorated with bows and ribbons 3 a long thin piece of wood with thin string stretched along it, used for playing musical instruments such as the violin IDIOMS see STRINGn. verb [V, VN] to use a bow to play a musical instrument that has strings