{
    "term": "bow",
    "partOfSpeech": "verb",
    "ox5000": true,
    "cefr": "c1",
    "image": "data/images/bo/bows_1.png",
    "verbForms": {
        "presentSimple": {
            "iYouWeThey": "bow",
            "heSheIt": "bows"
        },
        "pastSimple": "bowed",
        "pastParticiple": "bowed",
        "ingForm": "bowing"
    },
    "definitions": [
        {
            "senseNumber": 1,
            "definition": "to move your head or the top half of your body forwards and downwards as a sign of respect or to say hello or goodbye",
            "sensetop": "bow (to/before somebody/something)bow down (to/before somebody/something)",
            "cefr": "c1",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "He bowed low to the assembled crowd.",
                    "contextForm": "bow (to/before somebody/something)"
                },
                {
                    "text": "The people all bowed down before the emperor.",
                    "contextForm": "bow down (to/before somebody/something)"
                },
                {
                    "text": "He swept off his hat and bowed deeply to the queen."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The emperor's subjects bowed down before him."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The pianist stood up and bowed to the audience."
                }
            ],
            "collocations": {
                "adverb": ["deeply", "low", "slightly"],
                "preposition": ["before", "to"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 2,
            "definition": "to move your head forwards and downwards",
            "sensetop": "bow your head",
            "cefr": "c1",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "She bowed her head in shame."
                },
                {
                    "text": "They stood in silence with their heads bowed."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 3,
            "definition": "to bend or make something bend",
            "sensetop": "(+ adv./prep)bow something (+ adv./prep)",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "The pines bowed in the wind.",
                    "contextForm": "(+ adv./prep)"
                },
                {
                    "text": "Their backs were bowed under the weight of their packs.",
                    "contextForm": "bow something (+ adv./prep)"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "to be too polite to an important person in order to gain their approval",
            "labels": "(disapproving)",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "She was beginning to tire of all their bowing and scraping."
                }
            ]
        }
    ],
    "pronunciations": {
        "uk": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/baʊ/",
                "audio": "bo/bow/bow__gb_3.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/baʊz/",
                "audio": "bo/bow/bows__gb_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/baʊd/",
                "audio": "bo/bow/bowed__gb_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˈbaʊɪŋ/",
                "audio": "bo/bow/bowing__gb_1.mp3"
            }
        ],
        "us": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/baʊ/",
                "audio": "bo/bow/bow__us_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/baʊz/",
                "audio": "bo/bow/bows__us_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/baʊd/",
                "audio": "bo/bow/bowed__us_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˈbaʊɪŋ/",
                "audio": "bo/bow/bowing__us_1.mp3"
            }
        ]
    },
    "wordOrigin": "Old English būgan ‘bend, stoop’, of Germanic origin; related to German biegen, also to bow2. Bow of a boat/​ship is late Middle English: from Low German boog, Dutch boeg, ‘shoulder or ship's bow’; related to bough."
}