Plough

Plough

Noun & Verb · /plaʊ/ · to cut and turn over soil; a farming implement for breaking earth

Definition

A plough is the large farming tool — or in American English, plow — used to cut and turn over soil before planting. As a verb, to plough means to drive this tool through earth, or more broadly, to push through something with sustained effort and force. You plough a field, plough through a pile of work, or plough ahead despite obstacles.

Origin

From Old English plōh, meaning a measure of land (the amount one plough could work in a day). The farming sense is even older, traced to Proto-Germanic. The spelling plough (as opposed to the American plow) has been standard in British English since the 17th century, though both forms coexisted for centuries.