mow down

phrasal verb

mowed down; mowed down or mown down; mowing down; mows down
informal
: to kill or knock down (a person or many people) in a sudden and violent way
The soldiers were mowed down by machine guns.
The car mowed down four pedestrians.

Examples of mow down in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web More of the iconic desert trees were mowed down by another 2020 fire in Arthur B. Ripley Desert Woodland State Park. Lila Seidman, Los Angeles Times, 20 Mar. 2024 While there are cheaper wired bots under $1,000, these require laying perimeter wire around your yard to avoid mowing down your flower beds. Jennifer Pattison Tuohy, The Verge, 19 Mar. 2024 The guns mowing down school kids, shoppers, worshippers and concert crowds belong on the same list as missile-firing tanks, nuclear subs and fighter planes. Dean Minnich, Baltimore Sun, 3 Feb. 2024 Some Black Hawk helicopter with night vision mows down like 40 people. TIME, 23 Feb. 2024 Even the streetlamps are gone, mowed down when tanks plowed through the narrow lanes as the Israeli army arrived to defend against the attackers. Roni Caryn Rabin, New York Times, 11 Feb. 2024 Jag Bains, Matt Klotz, and Bowie Jane formed an alliance called the Mafia, and then proceeded to mow down every single name on their hit list, including competition beasts like Cameron Hardin, strategic threats like Cory Wurtenberger, and reality TV legends like Cirie Fields. EW.com, 9 Nov. 2023 Sure, a lot of people are here to see a machine-gun-toting Pikachu mow down other Pikachu. Andrew Cunningham, Ars Technica, 23 Jan. 2024 To others, the scooters were dangerous playthings that enabled jerks to mow down pedestrians. Shira Ovide, Washington Post, 22 Dec. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'mow down.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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Cite this Entry

“Mow down.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mow%20down. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

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