Meanings
stow1
stow2
present singular third person stows · participle present stowing · participle past stowed · past stowed
- transitiveTo store or pack something in a space-saving manner and over a long time.
Yet everybody knows that a cargo properly stowed in a seaworthy craft reaches market in much the better condition than by rail, though perhaps it is some hours longer on the way.
1922, James A. Cooper, Sheila of Big Wreck Cove - transitiveTo dispose of, lodge, or hide somebody somewhere.
Ar.[…]The Marriners all vnder hatches ſtowed, / Who, with a Charme ioynd to their ſuffred labour / I haue left aſleep :[…]
1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii], page 3 - obsoleteslangtransitiveTo cease; to stop doing something.
“Come, come,” said Silver; “stow this talk. He’s dead, and he don’t walk, that I know; leastways, he won’t walk by day, and you may lay to that. Care killed a cat. Fetch ahead for the doubloons.”
1883, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island1 more example
But when I strove my flame to tell, / Says she, 'Come, stow that patter, / If you're a cove wot likes a gal, / Vy don't you stand some gatter?' / In course I instantly complied— / Two brimming quarts of porter, / With sev'ral goes of gin beside, / Drain'd Bet the Coaley's daughter.
Bet the Coaley's Daughter (traditional song)
- obsoletetransitiveA cry used by falconers to call their birds back down to hand.
His seconde hawke wexyd gery […] on the rode loft She perkyd her to rest. The fauconer then was prest, Came runnynge with a dow, And cryed, ‘Stow, stow, stow!’ But she wold not bow.
c. 1503–1512, John Skelton, Ware the Hauke; republished in John Scattergood, editor, John Skelton: The Complete English Poems, 1983, →OCLC, page 63, lines 66, 69–74
Stow3
- A surname.
- A village in the Scottish Borders council area, Scotland (OS grid ref NT4544).
- A village and civil parish in West Lindsey district, Lincolnshire, England (OS grid ref SK8881).
- The alternative spelling of Stowe in Shropshire, England.
- A small town in Oxford County, Maine, United States.
- A city in Summit County, Ohio, United States.
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
stow · noun
- Proto-Indo-European*steh₂-“to stand, place, put”
- Proto-Germanic*stōō“a place, stowage”
- Proto-West Germanic*stōu
- Old Englishstōw“place, location”
- Middle Englishstowe
- Englishstow
From Middle English stowe, from Old English stōw (“place, location”), from Proto-West Germanic *stōu, from Proto-Germanic *stōō (“a place, stowage”), from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to stand, place, put”). Cognate with Old Frisian stō (“place”), Icelandic stó (“fireplace”), Dutch stouw (“place”), German Stau (“congestion”). See also -stow.
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →stow · verb, interjection
- Proto-Indo-European*steh₂-“to stand, place”
- Proto-Germanic*stōōną
- Old Englishstōwian“to hold back, restrain”
- Middle Englishstowen
- Englishstow
From Middle English stowen, stawen, stewen, from Old English stōwian (“to hold back, restrain”), from Proto-Germanic *stōōną, *stōjaną (“to stow, dam up”), from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to stand, place”). Cognate with Dutch stuwen, stouwen (“to stow”), Low German stauen (“to blin, halt, hinder”), German stauen (“to halt, hem in, stow, pack”).
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian прибирам, подреждам
- прибирам (pribiram)to put something away in a compact and tidy manner
- подреждам (podreždam)to put something away in a compact and tidy manner
- сгъвам (sgăvam)to put something away to store it in a space-saving manner and over long time
- опаковам (opakovam)to put something away to store it in a space-saving manner and over long time
Catalan desar, emmagatzemar
- desarto put something away to store it in a space-saving manner and over long time
- emmagatzemarto put something away to store it in a space-saving manner and over long time
Finnish pakata, pakata
- pakatato put something away in a compact and tidy manner
- pakatato put something away to store it in a space-saving manner and over long time
- panna talteento put something away to store it in a space-saving manner and over long time
French ranger, stocker
- rangerto put something away in a compact and tidy manner
- stockerto put something away to store it in a space-saving manner and over long time
- garderto put something away to store it in a space-saving manner and over long time
- conserverto put something away to store it in a space-saving manner and over long time
German verstauen, verstauen
- verstauento put something away in a compact and tidy manner
- verstauento put something away to store it in a space-saving manner and over long time
Hungarian helyez, elhelyez
- helyezto put something away in a compact and tidy manner
- elhelyezto put something away in a compact and tidy manner
- teszto put something away in a compact and tidy manner
- elteszto put something away in a compact and tidy manner
- rakto put something away in a compact and tidy manner
- elrakto put something away in a compact and tidy manner
- elpakolto put something away to store it in a space-saving manner and over long time
- elrakto put something away to store it in a space-saving manner and over long time
- elraktározto put something away to store it in a space-saving manner and over long time
Italian compattare, raggruppare
- compattareto put something away in a compact and tidy manner
- raggruppareto put something away in a compact and tidy manner
- assemblareto put something away in a compact and tidy manner
- traversareto put something away in a compact and tidy manner
- ammainareto put something away in a compact and tidy manner
- montareto put something away in a compact and tidy manner
- immagazzinareto put something away to store it in a space-saving manner and over long time
Norwegian Bokmål stue
- stueto put something away in a compact and tidy manner
Russian укла́дывать, скла́дывать
- укла́дывать (ukládyvatʹ)to put something away in a compact and tidy manner
- скла́дывать (skládyvatʹ)to put something away in a compact and tidy manner
- убира́ть (ubirátʹ)to put something away to store it in a space-saving manner and over long time
Spanish estibar, arrumar
- estibarto put something away in a compact and tidy manner
- arrumarto put something away in a compact and tidy manner
- abarrotarto put something away in a compact and tidy manner
- guardarto put something away to store it in a space-saving manner and over long time
- almacenarto put something away to store it in a space-saving manner and over long time
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with stow
All rhymes →Sounds the same
Anagrams
Cite this entry
stow. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stow
“stow.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stow. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “stow,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stow.
Source: stow on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.