intimidate implies inducing fear or a sense of inferiority into another.
intimidated by so many other bright freshmen
cow implies reduction to a state where the spirit is broken or all courage is lost.
not at all cowed by the odds against making it in show business
bulldoze implies an intimidating or an overcoming of resistance usually by urgings, demands, or threats.
bulldozed the city council into approving the plan
bully implies intimidation through threats, insults, or aggressive behavior.
bullied into giving up their lunch money
browbeat implies a cowing through arrogant, scornful, or contemptuous treatment.
browbeat the witness into a contradiction
Examples of cow in a Sentence
Noun
The cows need to be milked twice a day. Verb
I refuse to be cowed by their threats.
a sharp glare cowed the child into being quiet
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Noun
The county had 11 cases in 2025 — six raccoons and five bats — and 14 cases in 2024, including 10 raccoons, a cow, a bat, a cat and a fox.—
Joe Marusak,
Charlotte Observer,
29 Aug. 2026 The cows made their way to the altar — with the handlers helping to guide them with hay — through throngs of people and a few mascots sitting in seats and lined up on the streets, who stopped by just to see the unique occasion.—
Kimberlee Speakman,
PEOPLE,
28 Aug. 2026
Verb
What stood out was his confidence; Bouaddi was never cowed up against the experienced pairing of Bruno Guimaraes and Casemiro.—
Conor O'Neill,
New York Times,
22 July 2026 Refusing to be cowed, Sartre responded to Aron with his own book on Marx, the nine-hundred-page Critique of Dialectical Reason, in 1960.—Literary Hub,
21 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for cow
Word History
Etymology
Noun
Middle English cou, from Old English cū; akin to Old High German kuo cow, Latin bos head of cattle, Greek bous, Sanskrit go
Verb
probably of Scandinavian origin; akin to Danish kue to subdue
First Known Use
Noun
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
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