row 
More disposed to rowing than reading. 
Bristed, Five Years in an English Univ. 
TOW 4 , r. A Scotch form of roll. 
row 5 , . and v. An obsolete or dialectal form 
of rout /hi. 
To certifle vs whether our set clothes be vendible there 
or not, and whether they be rowed and shorne; because 
ofttimes they goe vndrest. HaHuyfi Voyages, I. 298. 
rowablet (rp'a-bl), . [< row 1 + -able."} Ca- 
pable of being rowed or rowed upon. [Rare.] 
That long barren fen, 
Once rowable, but now doth nourish men 
In neighbour towns, and feels the weighty plough. 
B. Jongon, tr. of Horace's Art of Poetry. 
rowan (rou'au), . [Also roan, roun; < OSw. 
roun, runn, Sw. roun = Dan. ron = Icel. reynir, 
the service, sorb, mountain-ash ; cf. L. ornus, 
the mountain-ash.] 1. The rowan-tree. 2. 
The fruit or berry of the rowan-tree. 
rowan-berry (rou'an-ber''i), n. Same as row- 
an, 2. 
rowan-tree (rou'an-tre), n. The mountain-ash 
of the Old World, Pyrus aucuparia; also, less 
properly, 'either of the American species P. 
Americana and P. sambucifolia. See mountain- 
ash, 1. Also roan-tree, roun-tree. 
rowboat (ro'bot), n. [(.row 1 + boat.'] A boat 
fitted for propulsion by means of oars ; a boat 
moved by rowing. 
row-clotn (ro'kloth), n. [< row" + cloth.] A 
folding cloak, made of a kind of warm but coarse 
cloth completely dressed after weaving. Halli- 
well. [Prov. Eng.] 
row-de-dow (rou'de-dou), H. Same as rotvdy- 
dow. 
row-dow (rou'dou), n. The sparrow, Passer 
domexticiis. Also roo-doo. [Prov. Eng.] 
rowdy (rou'di), B. and a. [Perhaps an abbr. 
of rowdydoic, noise, confusion, an imitative 
word transferred to a noisy, turbulent person: 
see rowdydom. Cf. row 3 .'] I. n. ; pi. rowdies 
(-diz). A riotous, turbulent fellow; a person 
given to quarreling and fighting; a rough. 
"A murderer?" "Yes; a drunken, gambling cut-throat 
rowdy as ever grew ripe for the gallows. " 
Kinygley, Two Years Ago, x. 
II. a. Having the characteristics of a rowdy; 
given to rowdyism; rough; coarse-grained; 
disreputable. 
For a few years it [Victoria] was a very rowdy and noisy 
colony indeed. If. Besant, Fifty Years Ago, p. 8. 
rowdydow (rou'di-dou), w. [Also row-de-dow ; 
an imitative word, prob. orig. formed, like rub- 
a-dub, in imitation of the beat of a drum. Cf. 
role 3 , rowdy.] A continuous noise ; a rumpus ; 
a row. [Colloq.] 
rowdy-dowdy (rou'di-dou"di), a. [< roirdydow 
+ -i/ 1 ; the two parts being made to rime.] 
Making a rowdydow; uproarious. [Colloq.] 
rowdyish (rou'di-ish), a. [< rowdy + -iofti.] 
Belonging to or characteristic of a rowdy ; char- 
acterized by or disposed to rowdyism : as, roir- 
dyisii conduct; rowdyish boys. 
They give the white people very little trouble, being 
neither rowdywh nor thievish. The Century, XXIX. 835. 
rowdyism (rou'di-izm), . [< roicdy + -ism.'] 
The conduct of a rowdy or rough ; coarse tur- 
bulence ; vulgar disorderliness. 
The presence of women in these places [barrooms] ap- 
pears to have the effect of eliminating the element of row- 
dyinm. You hear no loud conversation, oaths, or coarse 
expressions. T. C. Crawford, English Life, p. 121. 
rowed (rod), . [< row 2 + -ed2.] i. Having 
rows^; formed into rows. 
In 1869 he sowed . . . seed from an IS-rowed ear [of 
maize). Amer. Jour. Psychol., I. 178. 
2. Striped: game as rayed, 3. 
rowel (rou'el), B. [< ME. rowel, rowelle, rowell, 
< OF. rouelle, roiele, roele, rouele, a little wheel 
or flat ring, a roller on a bit, F. rouelle, a slice, 
= Pr. Sp. rodela, a shield, target, = Cat. rodella 
= Pg. rodella, a round target, = It. rotella, a 
little wheel, a buckler, round spot, kneepau, 
< ML. rotella, a little wheel, dim. of L. rota, a 
wheel: see rote 1 . Cf. rotella."] If. A small 
wheel, ring, or circle. 
The rowelle whas rede golde with ryalle stones. 
Morte Arthure (E. E. T. S.), 1. 3263. 
And then, for wings, the golden plumes she wears 
Of that proud Bird | the peacock] which starry Rou'elts bears. 
Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas's Weeks, ii., The Columnes. 
2. The wheel of a horseman's spur, armed with 
pointed rays. 
Not having leisure to put off my silver spurs, oie of the 
rowels catehed hold of the ruffle of my boot. 
B. Jonson, Every Man out of his Humour, iv. 4. 
Lord Mtmnion turn'd well was his need 
And dash'd the roweln in his steed. 
Scoff, Miinnion, vi. 14. 
5250 
3. A roller on the mouthpiece of an old form of 
bit for horses. 
The yron rowels into frothy fome he bitt. 
Spenser, F. Q., I. vii. 87. 
4. In farriery, a seton inserted in the flesh of 
an animal. Bowels are made of horsehair, leather, and 
sometimes of silk, as is the practice with setons inserted 
in the human body. 
5. The spiked wheel of some forms of soil-pul- 
verizers and wheel-harrows Foliated rowel, a 
rowel without points, or very blunt, as distinguished from 
a star rowel and ntf-rmeti. Rose-rowel, a rowel having 
short points, taking about one sixth of the diameter. 
Star-rowel, a rowel having long points, taking at least 
one third of the total diameter of the circle. 
rowel (rou'el), v. t. ; pret. and pp. rotceled or 
rowelled,ppr. roweling or rowelling. [< rowel, 
n.] 1. To use the rowel on ; put spurs to. 2. 
In farriery, to apply a rowel to. 
Rowel the horse in the chest. Mortimer, Husbandry. 
He has been ten times romll'd. 
Beau, and Ft., Scornful Lady, ill. 2. 
3. To furnish with a rowel, as a spur, 
rowel-bonet, A variant of rewel-bonr. 
rowel-head (rou'el-hed), n. The axis on which 
the rowel of a spur turns. 
Bending forward, [he] struck his armed heels 
Against the panting sides of his poor jade 
Up to the rowel head. Shak., 2 Hen. IV., i. 1. 46. 
roweling, rowelling (rou'el-ing), . [Verbal 
n. of roicel, r.] The act of inserting a rowel. 
roweling-needle (rou'el-ing-ne*dl), n. A nee- 
dle with a large eye, for carrying the bundle of 
horsehair, silk, or the leather thong forming a 
rowel, and either straight or curved according 
to the nature of the part in which the rowel is 
required to be inserted. 
roweling-scissors (rou'el-iug-sizorz), H. sing. 
and pi. A farriers' instrument for inserting 
rowels in the flesh of horses, for cutting the 
silk or other material forming the seton. 
rowel-spur (rou'el-spfer), . A spur having a 
rowel of several radiating points, as distin- 
guished from the goad-spur. This appears in medi- 
eval monuments during the thirteenth century, as in the 
Ship's Boat, a a. Rowlocks (notched). 
Rowel-spur, I4th century. 
first great seal of King Henry III. of England, but is ex- 
tremely i-are before the beginning of the fourteenth ; it 
is probable that the earliest rowels did not turn upon 
a pivot. Pivoted rowel-spurs with very long spikes, not 
very sharp, are in common use in western parts of the 
United States and in Spanish-American countries gen- 
erally. They are fastened to the heel of the riding-boot 
by a broad leather strap passing over the instep, and often 
have special devices to make them clank or jingle. 
rowen (rou'en), w. [A dial, form, also rouen, 
rowings (and rowet, rowett), of roughings: see 
roughings."] 1. The lattermath, or second 
crop of hay cut off the same ground in one 
year. 2. A stubble-field left unplowed till 
late autumn, and furnishing a certain amount 
of herbage. [Prov. Eng. ; usually in plural 
form.] 
Turn your cows that give milk into your rowens till 
snow comes. Mortimer, Husbandry. 
rower 1 (ro'er), B. [< ME. rowere, roware; < 
row 1 -f- -er 1 .] One who rows, or manages an 
oar in rowing. 
The whole party being embarked, therefore, in a large 
boat, . . . the exertions of six stout rowers sped them rap- 
idly on their voyage. Scott, Heart of Mid-Lothian, xlv. 
rower 2 (rou'er), n. [< row 3 + - -1 .] One given 
to rows; a quarrelsome or disorderly fellow. 
rower s t (rou'er), n. [< roir 6 + -er 1 .] A work- 
man who roughens cloth preparatory to shear- 
ing ; a rougher. 
rowet, rowett (rou'et), H. Same as rowen. 
[Prov. Eng.] 
rowet-work (rou'et-werk), B. [< F. rouet, a 
wheel-look, spinning-wheel, dim. of roue, a 
wheel: see rowel."] The lock and appurtenances 
of a wheel-lock gun. See the quotation under 
gnopworfc, and cut under wheel-lock. 
rowey, a. See rowy. 
rowiness (ro'i-nes), H. The state of being 
rowy; streakiuess; striatiou. [Now only tech- 
nical.] 
A process [skimming] which demands very careful at- 
tention in the case of curd soaps, lest any portions of lye 
Roxburghia 
should be accidentally entangled in the soap, producing 
want of homogeneity, called rmnnesg. 
W. L. Carpenter, Soap and Candles, p. 174. 
The Karanee Teak has alternate shades of dull brown 
and yellow colour, the grain being close and long, with 
occasionally a rowinet* or figure in it, and IB also very free 
from defects. Ltulett, Timber, p. 116. 
rowing (ro'ing), B. [< ME. rmruiigc. < AS. Voic- 
H HI/, roiring, verbal n. of rowan, row: see roic 1 , 
.] The act or practice of propelling a boat by 
means of oars. See roir T , i\ t. 
rowing-feather(rp'ing-feTH"er), n. Ke^ feather. 
rowing-gear (ro'ing-ger), n. Any device or 
contrivance used in rowing; especially, a me- 
chanical device for facilitating the handling of 
the oars. 
rowlt, rowlet, '' and B. Obsolete forms of roll. 
Rowland gratings. In optics. See diffraction,!. 
rowlert, An obsolete form of roller. 
rowlet (rou'let), . [< F. roulette, a little wheel, 
fern, of roulet, dim. of OF. roule, a roll, a little 
wheel : see roll, rowel, roulette. Doublet of rou- 
lette.} A small broad wheel ; a wheel like a roll- 
er. [Now only dialectal.] 
Rails of timber, laid down from the collieries to the 
i iver, ... were worked with bulky carts made with four 
rmctrt* fitting the rails. 
S. Dowell, Taxes in England, III. 64. 
Rowley rag. See rag*. 
rowlock (ro'lok), n. [Also rollnek, rullock ; 
prob. a transposition (as if < row 1 -f- lock 1 ) of 
oarlock, < ME. 
orlok, < AS. 
drloc, an oar- 
lock, < dr. oar, 
+ Inc. a lock, 
bolt, bar, in- 
closed place 
(cf.E.oorBofe, 
an oarlock): 
see oar 1 and lock 1 ."] A contrivance on a boat's 
gunwale in or on which the oar rests and swings 
freely in rowing. The principal kinds 
of rowlocks are (1) a notch in the gun- 
wale (as in the first illustration), which 
may be either square or rounded, and is 
usually lined with metal ; (2) two short 
pegs, called thole-pins, projecting from 
the gunwale, between which the oar is 
placed ; (3) a stirrup-shaped swivel of 
metal pivoted In the gunwale (as in the 
second illustration), or on an outrigger. 
Sometimes a single pin set into the gun- 
wale is used instead of a rowlock, the Rowlock. 
oar having a hole through which the pin 
passes, or vice versa, or being fastened to it by means of a 
thong or gromet. 
rowly-powlyt, < Same as roly-poly. 
row-marker (i'6'mar"ker), n. In agri., 
plement for marking out the ground for crops t 
be planted in rows. 
rownet, . An obsolete form of roe%. 
row-port (ro'port), n. A little square hole in 
the side of small vessels, near the water-line, 
for the passage of a sweep for rowing in a calm, 
rows (roz), n. pi. In mining, same as roughs. 
See rough 1 , n., 4. 
rowsandt, rowsantt, ". In her., obsolete forms 
of rousant, 
rowse, v. See roK.sc 1 . 
rowtt, v. and n. An obsolete spelling of rout 1 , 
rout 2 , etc. 
rowth, rowthie. See rouQft, routine. 
rowy (ro'i), a. [< row 2 , n., + -yi.] Having 
rows or lines ; streaked or striped ; striated. 
Also spelled, improperly, rowcy. [Now only 
technical. See the second quotation.] 
Rowy or stricky [streaky! as some stuffs are. 
HowtU. (Halliwell. ) 
Is there such a word in the English language as mtey' 
. . . Frequently, through some fault in weaving, a piece 
of cloth will be thinner in some places than others ; this 
occurs at regular intervals through the whole piece, for 
which reason it is styled rowey, as the thin places extend 
across the piece similar to the lines on writing-paper. In 
the several mills with which I have been connected, roney 
was the technical term applied to such goods. . . . I have 
examined all the books at my disposal, but have been un- 
able to find it. Cor. Boston Erenin;/ Trarifcript.Jane 4, 18S3. 
rpxburghe (roks'bur-o), ' [Seedef.] A bind- 
ing for books, first used by the third Duke of 
Roxburghe (1740-1804), having a plain leather 
back lettered in gold near the top, and cloth or 
paper sides, with the leaves gilt at the top and 
uncut at the edge. 
Printed at the Tbiswick Press, on laid paper, with u idr 
margins, in limp covers, 10. 6d. net ; in roxmirghe, ISs. erf. 
net. The Academy. May 24, 1890, p. ii. 
Roxburghia (roks-ber'gi-ii), n. [NL. (Sir Jo- 
seph Banks, 1795), named after W. Roxburgh, 
a British botanist in India.] A genus of plants, 
now known as 
an iru- 
o 
