English

Pronunciation

Verb

1. Bow (weapon) (pronounced boʊ), an archery weapon that uses elasticity to propel arrows
2. Bow (social) (pronounced baʊ), to lower the head or the upper body
3. Bow (ship) (pronounced baʊ), the foremost point of the hull of a ship or boat

Multisenses of the first meaning

• Bow (knot), a type of knot
• Bow (music), a device used to play a stringed instrument
• Musical bow, a musical instrument resembling an archer's bow, not to be confused with the bow used to play a stringed instrument
• E-bow, a hand-held, battery-powered electronic device for playing the electric guitar
• Bow (composite materials), a conditional longitudinal curvature in pulltruded parts

Other homonyms

• Bow Bells (pronounced boʊ), church bells within hearing range of which Cockneys traditionally originate (after St. Mary-le-Bow)
• Bow collector (pronounced baʊ), an electric pick-up device for trains and trams (from German Bügel))

Acronyms

• Best of Winners (BOW), a designation achieved by dogs at a conformation show
• B.O.W. for Bio-Organic Weapon - a creature created due to exposure of a viral agent in the Resident Evil series

Placenames

• Bow, Devon, England
• Bow, London, England (historically called Stratford atte Bowe)
• Bow, Orkney, Scotland
• Bow, New Hampshire, United States
• Bow, Washington, United States
• The Bow (Calgary), a building in Calgary, Alberta
• Bow River, a river in the Canadian province of Alberta

Other uses

• Bow (She-Ra), a character from She-Ra: Princess of Power
• Bows (band), a band from the UK

See also

• Bow tie, a piece of decorative clothing (like neck tie)
• Rainbow, an optical phenomenon causing coloured bands to appear in the sky
• Oxbow (disambiguation)
• Beau
• Gungdo