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harrow

noun

  1. heraldic figure
L312468 on Wikidata ↗

verb

No English definition recorded for this entry.

L331893 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /ˈhæɹəʊ/ / /ˈhæɹoʊ/ / /ˈhɛɹoʊ/

intj

Etymology: From Middle English harrow, harrowe, haro, from Old French haro, harou, harau, harol, from Frankish *harot, *hara (“here; hither”), from *hēr. Akin to Old Saxon herod, Old High German herot, Middle Dutch hare.

  1. A call for help, or of distress, alarm etc.

    Harrow, the flames, which me consume (said hee) / Ne can be quencht, within my secret bowels bee.

name

Etymology: From harrow.

  1. A surname originating as an occupation for a harrower.

noun

Etymology: From Middle English harwe, harow, from Old English *hearwa (perhaps ultimately cognate with harvest), or from Old Norse harfr/herfi; compare Danish harve (“harrow”), Dutch hark (“rake”). Akin to Latin carpere. According to the OED, the verb senses are partly derived from the noun sense, partly from a by-form of the verb harry, itself from Old English hergian.

  1. A device consisting of a heavy framework having several disks or teeth in a row, which is dragged across ploughed land to smooth or break up the soil, to remove weeds or cover seeds; a harrow plow.

    He sent for the carpenter, who was under contract to be with the threshing-machine, but it turned out that he was mending the harrows, which should have been mended the week before Lent.

    “It may be fun for her,” I said with one of my bitter laughs, “but it isn't so diverting for the unfortunate toads beneath the harrow whom she plunges so ruthlessly in the soup.”

  2. An obstacle formed by turning an ordinary harrow upside down, the frame being buried.

verb

Etymology: From Middle English harwe, harow, from Old English *hearwa (perhaps ultimately cognate with harvest), or from Old Norse harfr/herfi; compare Danish harve (“harrow”), Dutch hark (“rake”). Akin to Latin carpere. According to the OED, the verb senses are partly derived from the noun sense, partly from a by-form of the verb harry, itself from Old English hergian.

  1. To drag a harrow over; to break up with a harrow.

    Will he harrow the valleys after thee?

    When the corn was sown, I had no harrow, but was forced to go over it myself, and drag a great heavy bough of a tree over it, to scratch it, as it may be called, rather than rake or harrow it.

  2. To traumatize or disturb; to torment, distress or vex.

    It harrows me with fear and wonder.

    I could a Tale vnfold, vvhoſe lighteſt vvord / VVould harrovv vp thy ſoule, freeze thy young blood, / Make thy tvvo eyes like Starres, ſtart from their Spheres, / Thy knotty and combined locks to part, / And each particular haire to ſtand an end, / Like Quilles vpon the fretfull Porpentine: […]

  3. To break or tear, as if with a harrow; to wound; to lacerate.

    my aged muscles harrow'd up with whips