harrow

1 of 3

verb (1)

har·​row ˈher-(ˌ)ō 

ˈha-(ˌ)rō

harrowed; harrowing; harrows

transitive verb

archaic

: pillage, plunder

long harrowed by oppressor's hand

—Sir Walter Scott

harrow

2 of 3

noun

: a cultivating tool set with spikes, teeth, or disks and used primarily for breaking up and smoothing the soil

harrow

3 of 3

verb (2)

harrowed; harrowing; harrows

transitive verb

1

: to cultivate with a harrow (see harrow entry 2)

harrow the fields

2

: torment, vex

harrowed by war

has not set out to appall the reader with horrors nor to harrow him with miseries

—Douglas Stewart

harrower

ˈher-ə-wər 

ˈha-rə-

noun

Synonyms

Verb (2)

• afflict
• agonize
• anguish
• bedevil
• beset
• besiege
• curse
• excruciate
• persecute
• plague
• rack
• torment
• torture

Examples of harrow in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

Track maintenance will then harrow the track to release the compactness and return it to its regular consistency for racing. —Los Angeles Times, 28 Dec. 2021

That same humble deity, in the course of putting on humanity, had obtained a glimpse of the conditions on earth—poverty, needless estrangement, a stubborn pattern of rich ruling over poor—and decided to incite a revolution that would harrow Hell. —Vinson Cunningham, The New Yorker, 28 Dec. 2020

Noun

WallStreetBets forum, were finally seizing control after being treated for decades as no more than toads beneath the harrow (to cite Rudyard Kipling). —Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 25 Jan. 2022

Word History

Etymology

Verb (1)

Middle English herwen, harwen — more at harry

Note: See note at harry.

Noun

Middle English harewe, harwe, harow, of uncertain origin

Note: The Oxford English Dictionary, first edition, suggests inheritance from an unattested Old English *hearwe or *hearge, though the Middle English word is perhaps more likely a loan from Old Norse, despite the phonetic objections—compare Norwegian harv, horv "harrow," Swedish harv, Danish harve, Old Icelandic herfi. The further origin of the Scandinavian word is unclear. G. Kroonen, Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Brill, 2013) suggests as an etymon *harbō, akin to *harbjan- "to pluck" (whence, allegedly, Norwegian dialect herva "to snatch"), akin to Germanic *harbista- "autumn" and Latin carpere "to pluck, pick, gather" (see harvest entry 1). A harrow, however, is not a tool for plucking or gathering.

Verb (2)

Middle English harwen, harowen, derivative of harwe, harow harrow entry 2

First Known Use

Verb (1)

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Verb (2)

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing harrow

• spike-tooth harrow

• spike-tooth harrow

Kids Definition

harrow

1 of 2 noun

har·​row ˈhar-ō 

: a cultivating tool that has spikes, teeth, or disks and is used for breaking up and smoothing the soil

harrow

2 of 2 verb

1

: to cultivate with a harrow

2

: torment entry 2, vex

harrower noun

Geographical Definition

Harrow

geographical name

Har·​row ˈha-(ˌ)rō 

borough of northwestern Greater London, England population 241,000