Sow (?), n. [OE. sowe, suwe, AS. sugu, akin to sū, D. zog, zeug, OHG. sū, G. sau, Icel. sȳr, Dan. so, Sw. sugga, so, L. sus. Gr. ὑ̑σ, συ̑σ, Zend. hu boar; probably from the root seen in Skr. sū to beget, to bear; the animal being named in allusion to its fecundity. √294. Cf. Hyena, Soil to stain, Son, Swine.] 1. (Zoöl.) The female of swine, or of the hog kind.
2. (Zoöl.) A sow bug.
3. (Metal.) (a) A channel or runner which receives the rows of molds in the pig bed. (b) The bar of metal which remains in such a runner. (c) A mass of solidified metal in a furnace hearth; a salamander.
4. (Mil.) A kind of covered shed, formerly used by besiegers in filling up and passing the ditch of a besieged place, sapping and mining the wall, or the like. Craig.
Sow bread. (Bot.) See Cyclamen. — Sow bug, orSowbug(Zoöl.), any one of numerous species of terrestrial Isopoda belonging to Oniscus, Porcellio, and allied genera of the family Oniscidæ. They feed chiefly on decaying vegetable substances. — Sow thistle [AS. sugepistel] (Bot.), a composite plant (Sonchus oleraceus) said to be eaten by swine and some other animals.