bow to

verb

To subserviently adhere to (a tradition, etc.).

“He declined at first, but when his hosts insisted, he bowed to local custom and played his part in the ritual.”

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Meanings

verbbow to (third-person singular simple present bows to, present participle bowing to, simple past and past participle bowed to)

present singular third person bows to · participle present bowing to · participle past bowed to · past bowed to

  1. To subserviently adhere to (a tradition, etc.).

    He declined at first, but when his hosts insisted, he bowed to local custom and played his part in the ritual.

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 屈服於 /屈服于
  • 屈服於 /屈服于 (qūfú yú)subserviently adhere to
Finnish mukautua, taipua
  • mukautuasubserviently adhere to
  • taipuasubserviently adhere to
Cite this entry
APA

bow to. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bow%20to

MLA

“bow to.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bow%20to. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bow to,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bow%20to.

Source: bow to on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.