MOW  . (1) To cut down

standing hay or corn with a scythe or with mac)iinery drawn by a horse or mechanical power (see REAPING) . The word in O.Eng. ismawan, a verb common to the West German languages, cf . Du. maaien, Ger. mahen; the root is also seen in " meadow," Gr. aµav and Lat. metere, to reap, cut, cf. messis, harvest . (2) A stack or rick of hay, corn, and sometimes also of beans, peas or other crops . The word in O.Eng. is mega, miiha, and is cognate with Swedish and Norwegian muga, heap, cf . Swedish alimoge, crowd of people, Danish almuc . " Mow" is chiefly dialectal in England, where it is a common name, e.g. the Barley Mow, on the sign-boards of country inns . From these two words must be distinguished (3) " mow," a grimace, now obsolete or purely literary, and generally found in combination with " mop," cf . " mopping and mowing " in King Lear, iv . 1 . 64 .

This is the same word as the

modern Fr. moue, pout, which is of obscure origin .