Meaning & use
bow down
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Meanings
verbphrasal verb
To bend forward at the waist or head to show respect, honor or worship.
Grammar: No object; often followed by before or to: bow down before the king.
Patterns
- bow down before someone
- bow down to someone
The villagers bowed down before the king.
Worshippers bowed down in the temple.
He bowed down to greet the elderly guest.
verbphrasal verbfigurative
To give in to someone's power or demands, often in a way that seems weak.
Grammar: Figurative use, often negative: refuse to bow down.
Patterns
- bow down to something
- bow down to someone
The council refused to bow down to pressure.
She will never bow down to a bully.
The company bowed down to its critics.
Word forms
| third person singular | bows down |
|---|---|
| past tense | bowed down |
| past participle | bowed down |
| -ing form | bowing down |
Common combinations
- bow down before
- They bowed down before the statue.
- bow down to pressure
- The mayor would not bow down to pressure.
- refuse to bow down
- He refused to bow down to authority.
- bow down to demands
- The firm bowed down to the union's demands.
- bow down in worship
- They bowed down in worship.
Synonyms and how they differ
- kneel
- Kneel means to rest on the knees, which is one way of showing respect, while bow down is usually bending forward.
- submit
- Submit describes giving in, without the physical gesture.
- give in
- Give in is casual and does not suggest respect or fear.
- bend the knee
- Bend the knee is a figurative image of formal surrender.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: bow down or bow (the weapon)? bow down or bow out?
bow down vs bow (the weapon)
A bow for arrows rhymes with go, while the bow in bow down rhymes with cow.
bow down vs bow out
Bow out means to leave or withdraw from something, which is different from bowing down.
Practice
The town leaders said they would never ___ to the demands of the developers.
Choose one answer.
Bow down to means give in to demands. Bow out means withdraw, which changes the meaning.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “bow down”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.