Standard Lemma guide

furrow

name · noun · verb · 12 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American: /ˈfʌɹoʊ/
  • General-American: /ˈfɝoʊ/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈfʌɹəʊ/
  • US: non-hurry-furry Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • US: hurry-furry Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ʌɹəʊ
  • CMU ARPABET: F ER1 OW0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

name

Meaning 1

A surname.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Any trench, channel, or groove; often found on wood or metal.

A trench cut in the soil, as when plowed in order to plant a crop.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • Don't walk across that deep furrow in the field.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

Any trench, channel, or groove; often found on wood or metal.

A deep wrinkle in the skin of the face, especially on the forehead.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • When she was tired, a deep furrow appeared on her forehead.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

verb

Meaning 4

To cut one or more grooves in (the ground, etc.).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

Examples

  • Cart wheels can furrow roads.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

verb

Meaning 5

To wrinkle.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

verb

Meaning 6

To pull one's brows or eyebrows together due to concentration, worry, etc.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

Examples

  • As she pored over the company's bewildering tax documents, she furrowed her brows, wrinkled her nose, and began to frown her befuddlement.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: frown

Antonyms: none provided

7

verb

Meaning 7

to become furrowed

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: intransitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

8

noun

Meaning 8

a long shallow trench in the ground (especially one made by a plow)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: trench

Narrower terms: cut, gash

9

noun

Meaning 9

a slight depression in the smoothness of a surface

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • his face has many lines
  • ironing gets rid of most wrinkles

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: wrinkle, crease, crinkle, seam, line

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: depression, impression, imprint

Narrower terms: crow's foot, crow's feet, laugh line, dermatoglyphic, frown line, line of life, life line, lifeline, line of heart, heart line, love line, mensal line, line of fate, line of destiny, line of Saturn

10

verb

Meaning 10

hollow out in the form of a furrow or groove

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • furrow soil

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: rut, groove

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: dig, delve, cut into, turn over

11

verb

Meaning 11

cut a furrow into a columns

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: chamfer, chase

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: cut

12

verb

Meaning 12

make wrinkled or creased

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • furrow one's brow

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: wrinkle, crease

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: fold, fold up, turn up

History

Etymology

From Middle English furgh, forow, from Old English furh, from Proto-West Germanic *furh, from Proto-Germanic *furhs (compare Saterland Frisian Fuurge, Dutch voor, German Furche, Swedish fåra, Norwegian Bokmål fure), from Proto-Indo-European *perḱ- (“to dig”). Compare Welsh rhych (“furrow”), Latin porca (“ridge, balk”), Lithuanian prapar̃šas (“ditch”), Sanskrit पर्शान (párśāna, “chasm”).

Across languages

Translations

193 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: voor — trench cut in the soil
  • Albanian: hulli — trench cut in the soil
  • Albanian: brazdë — trench cut in the soil
  • Arabic: ثَلْم (ṯalm) — trench cut in the soil
  • Arabic: حرت (ḥart) — trench cut in the soil
  • Arabic: خط (ḵaṭ) — trench cut in the soil
  • Armenian: ակոս (akos) — trench cut in the soil
  • Old Armenian: ակօս (akōs) — trench cut in the soil
  • Azerbaijani: şırım — trench cut in the soil
  • Azerbaijani: qırış — trench cut in the soil
  • Bashkir: бураҙна (buraźna) — trench cut in the soil
  • Belarusian: разо́ра (razóra) — trench cut in the soil
  • Belarusian: баразна́ (barazná) — trench cut in the soil
  • Breton: ant — trench cut in the soil
  • Bulgarian: бразда́ (brazdá) — trench cut in the soil
  • Burmese: ထွန်ကြောင်း (htwankraung:) — trench cut in the soil
  • Catalan: solc — trench cut in the soil
  • Chinese Mandarin: 壟溝 /垄沟 (lǒnggōu) — trench cut in the soil
  • Chinese Mandarin: 溝 /沟 (gōu) — trench cut in the soil
  • Crimean Tatar: barazna — trench cut in the soil
  • Czech: brázda — trench cut in the soil
  • Danish: fure — trench cut in the soil
  • Danish: plovfure — trench cut in the soil
  • Dutch: vore — trench cut in the soil
  • Dutch: voor — trench cut in the soil
  • Esperanto: tersulko — trench cut in the soil
  • Estonian: vagu — trench cut in the soil
  • Finnish: vako — trench cut in the soil
  • Finnish: kyntövako — trench cut in the soil
  • French: sillon — trench cut in the soil
  • French: rigole — trench cut in the soil
  • West-Frisian: fuorge — trench cut in the soil
  • Galician: rego — trench cut in the soil
  • Galician: suco — trench cut in the soil
  • Georgian: კვალი (ḳvali) — trench cut in the soil
  • German: Furche — trench cut in the soil
  • Greek: αυλάκι (avláki) — trench cut in the soil
  • Ancient Greek: αὖλαξ (aûlax) — trench cut in the soil
  • Hebrew: תֶּלֶם (télem) — trench cut in the soil
  • Hindi: कुंड (kuṇḍ) — trench cut in the soil
  • Hungarian: barázda — trench cut in the soil
  • Ido: sulko — trench cut in the soil
  • Ingrian: vako — trench cut in the soil
  • Irish: clais — trench cut in the soil
  • Italian: solco — trench cut in the soil
  • Japanese: 溝 (mizo) — trench cut in the soil
  • Japanese: 畝 (une) — trench cut in the soil
  • Kashubian: barzda — trench cut in the soil
  • Kashubian: brózda — trench cut in the soil
  • Kazakh: атыз (atyz) — trench cut in the soil
  • Kazakh: қарық (qaryq) — trench cut in the soil
  • Korean: 고랑 (gorang) — trench cut in the soil
  • Korean: 밭고랑 (batgorang) — trench cut in the soil
  • Kyrgyz: бороздо (borozdo) — trench cut in the soil
  • Lao: ຮ່ອງ (hǭng) — trench cut in the soil
  • Lao: ຮອຍໄຖ (hǭi thai) — trench cut in the soil
  • Lao: ຄອງ (khǭng) — trench cut in the soil
  • Latgalian: voga — trench cut in the soil
  • Latin: sulcus — trench cut in the soil
  • Latvian: vaga — trench cut in the soil
  • Lezgi: хвал — trench cut in the soil
  • Lithuanian: vaga — trench cut in the soil
  • Livonian: vag — trench cut in the soil
  • Luxembourgish: Fuer — trench cut in the soil
  • Macedonian: бра́зда (brázda) — trench cut in the soil
  • Malay: alur — trench cut in the soil
  • Māori: awa — trench cut in the soil
  • Middle English: forow — trench cut in the soil
  • Mongolian: шан (šan) — trench cut in the soil
  • Norwegian: fure — trench cut in the soil
  • Norwegian: fòr — trench cut in the soil
  • Norwegian: renne — trench cut in the soil
  • Norwegian Bokmål: fure — trench cut in the soil
  • Norwegian Bokmål: plogfure — trench cut in the soil
  • Occitan: rega — trench cut in the soil
  • Old Church Slavonic: бразда (brazda) — trench cut in the soil
  • Persian: شیار (šiyâr) — trench cut in the soil
  • Polabian: bordză — trench cut in the soil
  • Polish: bruzda — trench cut in the soil
  • Portuguese: sulco — trench cut in the soil
  • Portuguese: rego — trench cut in the soil
  • Quechua: khata — trench cut in the soil
  • Quechua: suka — trench cut in the soil
  • Romanian: brazdă — trench cut in the soil
  • Romansh: sultg — trench cut in the soil
  • Russian: борозда́ (borozdá) — trench cut in the soil
  • Russian: бразда́ (brazdá) — trench cut in the soil
  • Scottish Gaelic: clais — trench cut in the soil
  • Serbo-Croatian: бразда — trench cut in the soil
  • Serbo-Croatian: brazda — trench cut in the soil
  • Slovak: brázda — trench cut in the soil
  • Slovene: brazda — trench cut in the soil
  • Lower Sorbian: brozda — trench cut in the soil
  • Upper Sorbian: brózda — trench cut in the soil
  • Southern Altai: тоброк (tobrok) — trench cut in the soil
  • Spanish: surco — trench cut in the soil
  • Spanish: sulco — trench cut in the soil
  • Spanish: besana — trench cut in the soil
  • Spanish: jurco — trench cut in the soil
  • Spanish: huacho — trench cut in the soil
  • Spanish: aladrada — trench cut in the soil
  • Swedish: fåra — trench cut in the soil
  • Swedish: plogfåra — trench cut in the soil
  • Tabasaran: хул (ꭓul) — trench cut in the soil
  • Tajik: шияр (šiyar) — trench cut in the soil
  • Tarifit: tarya — trench cut in the soil
  • Thai: ร่อง (rông) — trench cut in the soil
  • Turkish: kırışık — trench cut in the soil
  • Turkish: kırışıklık — trench cut in the soil
  • Turkish: çizgi — trench cut in the soil
  • Turkmen: keşlemek — trench cut in the soil
  • Ugaritic: 𐎚𐎍𐎎 (tlm) — trench cut in the soil
  • Ukrainian: борозна́ (borozná) — trench cut in the soil
  • Uzbek: egat — trench cut in the soil
  • Uzbek: joʻyak — trench cut in the soil
  • Venetan: solẑ — trench cut in the soil
  • Vietnamese: rãnh — trench cut in the soil
  • Vietnamese: luống — trench cut in the soil
  • Vilamovian: fiüch — trench cut in the soil
  • Walloon: roye — trench cut in the soil
  • Walloon: royon — trench cut in the soil
  • Welsh: rhych — trench cut in the soil
  • Albanian: rrudhë — deep wrinkle in the skin of the face
  • Arabic: تْكميشة (tkəmiša) — deep wrinkle in the skin of the face
  • Belarusian: баразна́ (barazná) — deep wrinkle in the skin of the face
  • Belarusian: маршчы́на (marščýna) — deep wrinkle in the skin of the face
  • Bulgarian: бръчка (brǎčka) — deep wrinkle in the skin of the face
  • Chinese Mandarin: 皺紋 /皱纹 (zhòuwén) — deep wrinkle in the skin of the face
  • Dutch: groef — deep wrinkle in the skin of the face
  • Esperanto: sulko — deep wrinkle in the skin of the face
  • Finnish: juonne — deep wrinkle in the skin of the face
  • Finnish: uurre — deep wrinkle in the skin of the face
  • French: sillon — deep wrinkle in the skin of the face
  • French: ride — deep wrinkle in the skin of the face
  • Galician: engurra — deep wrinkle in the skin of the face
  • Hungarian: barázda — deep wrinkle in the skin of the face
  • Italian: ruga — deep wrinkle in the skin of the face
  • Macedonian: бр́чка (bŕčka) — deep wrinkle in the skin of the face
  • Malay: kerut — deep wrinkle in the skin of the face
  • Middle English: forow — deep wrinkle in the skin of the face
  • Norwegian: fure — deep wrinkle in the skin of the face
  • Norwegian: fòr — deep wrinkle in the skin of the face
  • Norwegian: rynke — deep wrinkle in the skin of the face
  • Polish: zmarszczka — deep wrinkle in the skin of the face
  • Portuguese: ruga — deep wrinkle in the skin of the face
  • Portuguese: sulco — deep wrinkle in the skin of the face
  • Romanian: rid — deep wrinkle in the skin of the face
  • Serbo-Croatian: бо́ра — deep wrinkle in the skin of the face
  • Serbo-Croatian: bóra — deep wrinkle in the skin of the face
  • Spanish: arruga — deep wrinkle in the skin of the face
  • Spanish: surco — deep wrinkle in the skin of the face
  • Spanish: sulco — deep wrinkle in the skin of the face
  • Swedish: fåra — deep wrinkle in the skin of the face
  • Swedish: rynka — deep wrinkle in the skin of the face
  • Walloon: pleu — deep wrinkle in the skin of the face
  • Albanian: brazdoj — to make one or more cuts or grooves in
  • Albanian: hulloj — to make one or more cuts or grooves in
  • Aromanian: arãm — to make one or more cuts or grooves in
  • Bulgarian: браздя (brazdja) — to make one or more cuts or grooves in
  • Catalan: solcar — to make one or more cuts or grooves in
  • Catalan: acanalar — to make one or more cuts or grooves in
  • Dutch: doorploegen — to make one or more cuts or grooves in
  • Esperanto: sulkigi — to make one or more cuts or grooves in
  • Finnish: uurtaa — to make one or more cuts or grooves in
  • French: sillonner — to make one or more cuts or grooves in
  • Galician: sucar — to make one or more cuts or grooves in
  • Galician: asucar — to make one or more cuts or grooves in
  • Galician: arregar — to make one or more cuts or grooves in
  • Greek: αυλακώνω (avlakóno) — to make one or more cuts or grooves in
  • Ido: sulkizar — to make one or more cuts or grooves in
  • Māori: whakaawa — to make one or more cuts or grooves in
  • Norman: sîlyi — to make one or more cuts or grooves in
  • Portuguese: sulcar — to make one or more cuts or grooves in
  • Quechua: sukay — to make one or more cuts or grooves in
  • Romanian: brăzda — to make one or more cuts or grooves in
  • Russian: бороздить (borozditʹ) — to make one or more cuts or grooves in
  • Slovene: razbrazdati — to make one or more cuts or grooves in
  • Spanish: surcar — to make one or more cuts or grooves in
  • Spanish: acanalar — to make one or more cuts or grooves in
  • Albanian: rrudh — to pull one's brows together
  • Bulgarian: смръщвам се (smrǎštvam se) — to pull one's brows together
  • Catalan: arrufar — to pull one's brows together
  • Dutch: fronsen — to pull one's brows together
  • Esperanto: sulkigi — to pull one's brows together
  • Finnish: rypistää kulmiaan — to pull one's brows together
  • Finnish: kurtistaa kulmiaan — to pull one's brows together
  • French: froncer — to pull one's brows together
  • Polish: marszczyć — to pull one's brows together
  • Polish: zmarszczyć — to pull one's brows together
  • Portuguese: franzir — to pull one's brows together
  • Russian: хмуриться (xmuritʹsja) — to pull one's brows together
  • Slovene: (na)mrščiti (se) — to pull one's brows together
  • Spanish: fruncir — to pull one's brows together