核心畫面
Picture the big, slow, milk-giving animal standing in a field — the most familiar farm animal there is. Almost everything the noun does grows out of that one picture: it spreads to the whole herd, sideways to the females of other large animals, and into insults and fixed phrases.
可以想成田裡那頭又大又慢、會產奶的母牛——農場上最為人熟悉的動物。名詞的用法幾乎都從這一個畫面長出來：往外擴到整群牛…更多收起
可以想成田裡那頭又大又慢、會產奶的母牛——農場上最為人熟悉的動物。名詞的用法幾乎都從這一個畫面長出來：往外擴到整群牛，往旁邊借到別種大型動物的母獸，再往下掉進罵人的話和幾個固定片語裡。原始詞典資料21 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
Cowname
- 1
A surname
cownoun詞源 1/kaʊ/
- 1
An adult female of the species Bos taurus, especially one that has calved.
- The whole herd is out to pasture right now — the cows, calves, and heifers are out back, and the bulls are down by the creek.
- 2
informalAny member of the species Bos taurus that is not of a bucking breed or fighting breed, regardless of sex or age, including steers and calves.
- We saw lots of cows at the farm show, including some surprisingly gigantic bulls.
- 3
Beef: the meat of cattle as food.
- The only meat I eat is cow.
- 4
Any bovines or bovids generally, including yaks, buffalo, etc.
- 5
biologynatural-sciencesA female member of other large species of mammal, including the bovines, moose, whales, seals, hippos, rhinos, manatees, and elephants.
- 6
derogatoryinformalA woman considered unpleasant in some way, particularly one considered nasty, stupid, fat, lazy, or difficult.
- […] the worst insult to a woman, either in London or Paris, is "cow"; a name which might even be a compliment, for cows are among the most likeable of animals.
- Greville Preston: You've been set up, you silly cow. Now, don't let me hear any more about this unless you have absolute stand-up-in-court proof it's kosher... Mattie Storin: Pig.
- 7
businessminingA chock: a wedge or brake used to stop a machine or car.
- 8
slanggovernmentmilitarypoliticsA third-year cadet at West Point.
- Colonel Red Reeder, West Point Second Classman An assistant manager, wearing the stripes of a cadet corporal, walked up to Coach Smith. Clint knew him, a Cow from B-l. What had he done to become so outstanding that the Tacs made him a corporal?
- When I was a cow (junior) at West Point, I dated a plebe (freshman), which is considered fraternization in the cadet realm.
另外 1 個記錄的用法
- 9
slangfishinghobbieslifestyleA fish that is very large for its species, such as a large striped bass or large bluefin tuna.
cowverb詞源 2/kaʊ/
- 1
To intimidate; to daunt the spirits or courage of.
- Con artists are not cowed by the law.
- To vanquish a people already cowed.
cownoun詞源 3/kaʊ/
- 1
dialectalA chimney cowl.
- Who could live to gaze from day to day on bricks and slates, who had once felt the influence of a scene like this? Who could continue to exist, where there are no cows but the cows on the chimneypots; nothing redolent of Pan but pan-tiles; […]
cownoun詞源 4/kaʊ/
- 1
astronomynatural-sciencesLFBOT: Synonym of luminous fast blue optical transient.
這個拼法也被記錄為下列字的變化形：
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。