tow

verb

ˈtō 

towed; towing; tows

transitive verb

: to draw or pull along behind : haul

tow a wagon

intransitive verb

: to move in tow

… trailers that tow behind the family auto.

—Bob Munger

Synonyms of tow

• pull
• haul
• drag

Examples of tow in a Sentence

The car was towed to the nearest garage after the accident.

The police towed my car because it was parked illegally.

Recent Examples on the Web

The company towing from the CVS is Lone Star Towing. —Kelsy Mittauer, CBS News, 3 June 2026

Keep a distance from high profile vehicles such as trucks, buses and vehicles towing trailers. —Ca Weather Bot, Sacbee.com, 3 June 2026

Then Charlotte’s decision to sell their late father’s robotics company—and with it, beings like Cy—spurs Grayson into action, stealing the flash drive with all the company secrets and towing Cy along on his attempt at a corporate takeover. —Literary Hub, 1 June 2026

Over the next few weeks, engineers are expected to complete commissioning and final preparations before towing the structure to Valencia. —Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 1 June 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English towen "to pull, tug, haul," going back to Old English togian, going back to Germanic *togōjan- (whence also Old Frisian togia "to haul away," Old High German zogōn "to obtain," Old Icelandic toga "to draw, pull"), weak-verb derivative from zero-grade of *teuhan- "to draw, pull," a strong verb (whence Old English tēon, past tēah, tugon, past participle togen "to pull, draw, entice, bring up, educate," Old Frisian tiā "to draw, pull, educate," Old Saxon tiohan "to pull, haul, rear," Old High German ziohan "to pull, lead, rear, foster," Old Icelandic toginn "drawn [of a sword]," Gothic tiuhan "to lead, bring"), going back to an Indo-European verbal base *deu̯k-, whence also Welsh dygaf "(I) bring, lead" (verbal noun dwyn), Latin dūcō, dūcere "to lead, conduct, draw, pull (of draught animals)"

Note: The base *deu̯k- is best attested as a primary verb stem with the meanings "lead, bring" and "pull (a conveyance)" in the western Indo-European group Celtic, Germanic, and Italic. Other semantically and/or morphologically more distant connections (in Albanian, Greek, and Tocharian) are pointed out in H. Rix, et al., Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2. Auflage, Wiesbaden, 2001.

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Phrases Containing tow

• in tow
• on tow
• rope tow
• ski tow
• take in tow
• tow-away zone
• tow bar
• tow sack
• tow truck

Rhymes for tow

• beau
• beaut
• beaux
• blow
• bro
• coe
• crow
• doe
• doh
• dough
• eau
• eaux

Kids Definition

tow

1 of 3 verb

ˈtō 

: to draw or pull along behind

tow

2 of 3 noun

1

: a line or rope for towing

2

: an act or instance of towing or the fact or condition of being towed

3

: something (as a barge) that tows or is towed

tow

3 of 3 noun

1

: short broken fiber from flax, hemp, or jute used for yarn, twine, or stuffing

2

: yarn or cloth made of tow

Etymology

Old English togian "to tow"

Old English tow- "spinning"