Meanings
furrow1
plural furrows
- 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.
Don't walk across that deep furrow in the field.
1 more example
The family feeling was intensified as we stopped to speak to mothers in the cottage gardens, or waved to distant tractors turning over chocolate-brown furrows and driven by 'my dad' or 'my Uncle Bob'.
1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 217
present singular third person furrows · participle present furrowing · participle past furrowed · past furrowed
- transitiveTo wrinkle.
- transitiveTo pull one's brows or eyebrows together due to concentration, worry, etc.
As she pored over the company's bewildering tax documents, she furrowed her brows, wrinkled her nose, and began to frown her befuddlement.
Synonyms: frown
- intransitiveto become furrowed
If you were bold enough to ask Antonin Scalia questions, you had to be precise. Otherwise the bushy black brows would furrow, the chin would crumple and the pudgy, puckish body would start to rock, eager to get at you.
2016 February 20, “Obituary: Antonin Scalia: Always Right”, in The Economist
Furrow2
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo pull one's brows or eyebrows together due to concentration, worry, etc.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna slight depression or fold in the smoothness of a surface
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*perḱ-
- Proto-Germanic*furhs
- Proto-West Germanic*furh
- Old Englishfurh
- Middle Englishforow
- Englishfurrow
From Middle English forow, furgh, 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”).
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans voor
- voortrench cut in the soil
Ancient Greek αὖλαξ
- αὖλαξ (aûlax)trench cut in the soil
Arabic ثَلْم
- ثَلْم (ṯalm)trench cut in the soil
Basque ildo, ildoerreka
- ildotrench cut in the soil
- ildoerrekatrench cut in the soil
- goldatztrench cut in the soil
- ildaskatrench cut in the soil
- zimurdeep wrinkle in the skin of the face
Bulgarian бразда́, бръчка
- бразда́ (brazdá)trench cut in the soil
- бръчка (brăčka)deep wrinkle in the skin of the face
- браздя (brazdja)to make one or more cuts or grooves in
- смръщвам се (smrăštvam se)to pull one's brows together
Catalan solc, solcar
- solctrench cut in the soil
- solcarto make one or more cuts or grooves in
- acanalarto make one or more cuts or grooves in
- arrufarto pull one's brows together
Chinese Mandarin 壟溝 /垄沟, 溝 /沟
- 壟溝 /垄沟 (lǒnggōu)trench cut in the soil
- 溝 /沟 (gōu)trench cut in the soil
- 皺紋 /皱纹 (zhòuwén)deep wrinkle in the skin of the face
Czech brázda
- brázdatrench cut in the soil
Danish fure, plovfure
- furetrench cut in the soil
- plovfuretrench cut in the soil
Dutch vore, voor
- voretrench cut in the soil
- voortrench cut in the soil
- groefdeep wrinkle in the skin of the face
- doorploegento make one or more cuts or grooves in
- fronsento pull one's brows together
Esperanto tersulko, sulko
- tersulkotrench cut in the soil
- sulkodeep wrinkle in the skin of the face
- sulkigito make one or more cuts or grooves in
- sulkigito pull one's brows together
Estonian vagu
- vagutrench cut in the soil
Finnish vako, kyntövako
- vakotrench cut in the soil
- kyntövakotrench cut in the soil
- juonnedeep wrinkle in the skin of the face
- uurredeep wrinkle in the skin of the face
- uurtaato make one or more cuts or grooves in
- rypistää kulmiaanto pull one's brows together
- kurtistaa kulmiaanto pull one's brows together
French sillon, rigole
- sillontrench cut in the soil
- rigoletrench cut in the soil
- sillondeep wrinkle in the skin of the face
- ridedeep wrinkle in the skin of the face
- sillonnerto make one or more cuts or grooves in
- froncerto pull one's brows together
German Furche
- Furchetrench cut in the soil
Greek αυλάκι, αυλακώνω
- αυλάκι (avláki)trench cut in the soil
- αυλακώνω (avlakóno)to make one or more cuts or grooves in
Hebrew תֶּלֶם
- תֶּלֶם (télem)trench cut in the soil
Hindi कुंड
- कुंड (kuṇḍ)trench cut in the soil
Hungarian barázda, barázda
- barázdatrench cut in the soil
- barázdadeep wrinkle in the skin of the face
Irish clais
- claistrench cut in the soil
Italian solco, ruga
- solcotrench cut in the soil
- rugadeep wrinkle in the skin of the face
Japanese 溝, 畝
- 溝 (mizo)trench cut in the soil
- 畝 (une)trench cut in the soil
Korean 고랑, 밭고랑
- 고랑 (gorang)trench cut in the soil
- 밭고랑 (batgorang)trench cut in the soil
Latin sulcus
- sulcustrench cut in the soil
Latvian vaga
- vagatrench cut in the soil
Lithuanian vaga
- vagatrench cut in the soil
Malay alur, kerut
- alurtrench cut in the soil
- kerutdeep wrinkle in the skin of the face
Māori awa, whakaawa
- awatrench cut in the soil
- whakaawato make one or more cuts or grooves in
Norwegian fure, fòr
- furetrench cut in the soil
- fòrtrench cut in the soil
- rennetrench cut in the soil
- furedeep wrinkle in the skin of the face
- fòrdeep wrinkle in the skin of the face
- rynkedeep wrinkle in the skin of the face
Norwegian Bokmål fure, plogfure
- furetrench cut in the soil
- plogfuretrench cut in the soil
Persian شیار
- شیار (šiyâr)trench cut in the soil
Polish bruzda, zmarszczka
- bruzdatrench cut in the soil
- zmarszczkadeep wrinkle in the skin of the face
- marszczyćto pull one's brows together
- zmarszczyćto pull one's brows together
Portuguese sulco, rego
- sulcotrench cut in the soil
- regotrench cut in the soil
- rugadeep wrinkle in the skin of the face
- sulcodeep wrinkle in the skin of the face
- sulcarto make one or more cuts or grooves in
- franzirto pull one's brows together
Romanian brazdă, rid
- brazdătrench cut in the soil
- riddeep wrinkle in the skin of the face
- brăzdato make one or more cuts or grooves in
Russian борозда́, бразда́
- борозда́ (borozdá)trench cut in the soil
- бразда́ (brazdá)trench cut in the soil
- бороздить (borozditʹ)to make one or more cuts or grooves in
- хмуриться (xmuritʹsja)to pull one's brows together
Scottish Gaelic clais
- claistrench cut in the soil
Slovak brázda
- brázdatrench cut in the soil
Spanish surco, sulco
- surcotrench cut in the soil
- sulcotrench cut in the soil
- besanatrench cut in the soil
- jurcotrench cut in the soil
- huachotrench cut in the soil
- aladradatrench cut in the soil
- arrugadeep wrinkle in the skin of the face
- surcodeep wrinkle in the skin of the face
- sulcodeep wrinkle in the skin of the face
- surcarto make one or more cuts or grooves in
- acanalarto make one or more cuts or grooves in
- fruncirto pull one's brows together
Swedish fåra, plogfåra
- fåratrench cut in the soil
- plogfåratrench cut in the soil
- fåradeep wrinkle in the skin of the face
- rynkadeep wrinkle in the skin of the face
Thai ร่อง
- ร่อง (rông)trench cut in the soil
Turkish kırışık, kırışıklık
- kırışıktrench cut in the soil
- kırışıklıktrench cut in the soil
- çizgitrench cut in the soil
Ukrainian борозна́
- борозна́ (borozná)trench cut in the soil
Vietnamese rãnh, luống
- rãnhtrench cut in the soil
- luốngtrench cut in the soil
Welsh rhych
- rhychtrench cut in the soil
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with furrow
All rhymes →Cite this entry
furrow. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/furrow
“furrow.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/furrow. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “furrow,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/furrow.
Source: furrow on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.