kow-tow

A form of kowtow — To kneel and bow low enough to touch one’s forehead to the ground.

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Meanings

verbkow-tow (third-person singular simple present kow-tows, present participle kow-towing, simple past and past participle kow-towed)

present singular third person kow-tows · participle present kow-towing · participle past kow-towed · past kow-towed

  1. alternativeAlternative spelling of kowtow.

    I do not believe in kow-towing to anybody

    1940 [1940 July 17], [Clyde] Carr, quotee, Parliamentary Debates, volume 257, →OCLC, page 561
    2 more examples

    Prince Chun, who even in Europe would not kow-tow to a European or allow his attendants to kow-tow, will be, we may rest assured, a hero in Chinese eyes.

    1901 September 1, The Spectator, number 3,819, →OCLC, page 6

    [U]nless you kow-tow to an old order, this is what will happen to you

    1993 [1991], Clarence Thomas, quotee, Nomination of Judge Clarence Thomas to be Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States […] , →OCLC, page 158
Cite this entry
APA

kow-tow. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kow-tow

MLA

“kow-tow.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kow-tow. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “kow-tow,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kow-tow.

Source: kow-tow on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.