sow (redirected from sowed)

As you sow, so shall you reap, and As a man sows, so shall he reap.

Prov. Things will happen to you good or bad, according to how you behave. (Biblical.) You should stop being so cruel to other people. As you sow, so shall you reap. Fred built an immense fortune by swindling others, but lost it all when someone swindled him. As a man sows, so shall he reap.

See also: reap, shall

look like a saddle on a sow

Rur. to look ridiculous and out of place. Tom: How do you like my new diamond earring? Jane: It looks like a saddle on a sow. The fancy wheels on that beat-up old car look like a saddle on a sow.

See also: like, look, saddle

sow one's wild oats

to do wild and foolish things in one's youth. (often assumed to have some sort of sexual meaning.) Jack was out sowing his wild oats last night, and he's in jail this morning. Mrs. smith told Mr. smith that he was too old to be sowing his wild oats.

See also: oat, wild

sow the wind and reap the whirlwind

Prov. to start some kind of trouble that grows much larger than you planned. (Biblical.) our enemy has sown the wind by provoking this war, and they will reap the whirlwind when we vanquish them.

See also: and, reap, whirlwind, wind

You cannot make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

Prov. You cannot make someone more refined than he or she is by nature. I've given up trying to get my cousin to appreciate classical music. You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

See also: cannot, ear, make, out, purse, silk

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sow your wild oats

if a young man sows his wild oats, he has a period of his life when he does a lot of exciting things and has a lot of sexual relationships He'd spent his twenties sowing his wild oats but felt that it was time to settle down.

See You reap what you sow

See also: oat, wild

sow the seeds of something

to do something that will cause an unpleasant situation in the future He may be sowing the seeds of his own destruction by using violence against his people.

See also: seed

You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.  (old-fashioned)

something that you say which means you cannot make a good quality product using bad quality materials To make chairs that'll last, you need good strong pieces of wood. You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

See also: ear, make, out, purse, silk

You reap what you sow.  also As you sow, so shall you reap. (formal)

something that you say which means everything that happens to you is a result of your own actions If you treat your friends like that, of course they drop you. You reap what you sow in this life.

See also: reap

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reap what you sow

to experience the results of your own actions If we neglect our environment, we will surely reap what we sow.

Usage notes: usually used to say that something bad is likely to result from an activity

Etymology: from the idea that the quality of the seeds that you sow (put into the ground) grow into the kind of plants that you are able to reap (cut and collect)

See also: reap

sow the seeds (of something) also plant the seeds

to do something that will cause a particular result in the future Religious conflict sowed the seeds of the government's downfall. Officials say they are planting the seeds for freedom and democracy.

See also: seed