Also 4 vouwe, 4, 6 vowe, 6 Sc. wow. [Aphetic f. AVOW v.1 In sense 2 sometimes not clearly distinguishable from VOW v.1]
† 1. trans. To acknowledge, admit. Obs.
1338. R. Brunne, Chron. (1810), 180. ‘If þou to non þat lyues,’ said R. ‘Þou [read Þi] cheue ne bowe, Þi lond men salle gife tille one þat may it vowe.’
c. 1560. A. Scott, Poems, vi. 38. I dar not preiss hir to present it, Ffor be scho wreth I will not wow it.
2. To affirm or assert solemnly; to asseverate, to declare. (Cf. AVOW v.1 4.)
c. 1330. Amis & Amil., 858. Than dede the douke com forth that may, And the steward withstode alway, And vouwed the dede tho.
1590. in J. Campbell, Balmerino (1867), 176. Thou nor nane that appertenis to the dar stand up and vow that in my face.
1601. Ld. Mountjoy, Lett., in Moryson, Itin. (1617), II. 123. If you haue any authority from the Queene to countermand mine,… it is more then you haue vowed to me to haue.
1642. Fuller, Holy & Prof. St., III. x. 175. Yet the same party vowed to God, that he knew not that he could do it.
c. 1656. Bp. Hall, Rem. Wks. (1660), 47. These people vow they will watch you.
1833. Ht. Martineau, Briery Creek, ii. 41. My wife vowed that a handsome looking-glass was a necessary of life to her.
1848. Thackeray, Van. Fair, xxix. She vowed that it was a delightful ball.
1865. Kingsley, Herew., xv. The knights of the neighbourhood … had all vowed him the most gallant of warriors.
refl. 1592. Soliman & Pers., I. iv. Giue me thy hand, I vowe myselfe thy friend.
absol. 1825. T. Hook, Sayings, Ser. II. Sutherl. (Colburn), 50. Grace protested that it [the performance] was perfection, Mrs. Chatterton exclaimed, and the Colonel vowed.
b. I vow, used to strengthen an assertion.
In later use chiefly U.S., also in the minced forms van, VOWNE, and VUM.
1590. Spenser, F. Q., II. iv. 18. Our selues in league of vowed loue we knit:… And for my part I vow, dissembled not a whit.
1591. Shaks., Two Gentl., IV. iv. 208. Else by Iove, I vow, I should haue scratch’d out your vnseeing eyes.
1675. N. Lee, Nero, Prol. A bloody fatal Play you’l see to night, I vow to Gad, ’thas put me in a fright.
1687. T. Brown, Saints in Uproar, Wks. 1730, I. 80. You’d break a man’s sides with laughing, I vow and swear.
1749. Fielding, Tom Jones, XVII. ii. I vow I am afraid.
1773. Goldsm., Stoops to Conq., III. I vow, child, you are vastly handsome.
1790. R. Tyler, Contrast, II. ii. (1867), 39. I vow I was glad to take to my heels and split home.
1849. Lowell, Biglow P., Ser. I. viii. 57. I vow my holl sheer o’ the spiles would n’t come nigh a V spot.
1865. Dickens, Mut. Fr., I. vi. I vow and declare I am half ashamed of myself for taking such an interest in you.
1875. Tennyson, Q. Mary, III. v. 93. Robin came behind me, Kiss’d me well, I vow.
c. To make solemn assertion of (a feeling or quality).
1742. Gray, Adversity, 24. To her again they vow their truth, and are again believed.
1816. J. Wilson, City of Plague, III. i. 187. The children of despair and poverty … Do passionately vow their gratitude.
