Meaning & use
ploughing
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“ploughing” is a form of “plough”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
verbtransitive or intransitive
Turning over soil in strips with a heavy farm tool so it is ready for planting.
Grammar: Takes an object or none: ploughing the field; he spent all day ploughing. American spelling is plowing.
Patterns
- plough a field
- plough something under
The farmer was ploughing the upper field before the rain.
We watched a tractor ploughing straight lines across the hillside.
They spent April ploughing and sowing.
verbintransitive
Moving forcefully through something, or crashing into it.
Grammar: Needs a direction: ploughing through the snow, ploughing into a wall.
Patterns
- plough through something
- plough into something
The lorry was ploughing through deep snow at walking speed.
A skidding car ended up ploughing into a hedge.
Hikers kept ploughing on despite the mud.
verbintransitiveinformal
Working steadily through a large or dull task.
Grammar: Informal; usually with through or on: ploughing through paperwork.
Patterns
- plough through something
- plough on
I'm ploughing through a stack of exam papers.
She kept ploughing on with the report despite the noise.
He spent evenings ploughing through the long contract.
Word forms
| base form | plough |
|---|---|
| third person singular | ploughs |
| past tense | ploughed |
| past participle | ploughed |
Common combinations
- ploughing through the snow
- Ploughing through the snow, the bus arrived late.
- ploughing a field
- He was ploughing a field when the storm came.
- ploughing into traffic
- The van was ploughing into the traffic ahead.
- ploughing through paperwork
- I spent Sunday ploughing through paperwork.
- ploughing money into
- The firm is ploughing money into research.
Synonyms and how they differ
- tilling
- Tilling is any preparing of soil, while ploughing specifically means turning it over with a plough.
- barging
- Barging means pushing roughly through people or obstacles, with less sense of steady heavy effort than ploughing.
- slogging
- Slogging is more informal and stresses exhaustion more than ploughing does.
- ramming
- Ramming means striking something with great force, which is stronger than ploughing into it.
Word family
- plough noun
- a heavy farm tool for turning soil
- ploughman noun
- a person who ploughs fields
- ploughed adjective
- turned over with a plough
- ploughshare noun
- the blade of a plough
Commonly confused: ploughing or plowing?
ploughing vs plowing
Plowing is the American spelling of the same word; the meaning is identical.
Practice
The farmer spent the morning ___ the east field before sowing barley.
Choose one answer.
Ploughing is turning over soil before seed is sown. Harvesting would come after the crop has grown.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “ploughing”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.