Pa. t. and pa. pple. stowed. Forms: 4 stau, staw, stew, stouwe, stue, stywe, 4–7 stowe, 5 stou, stowyn, 6 stoe, 7 stoaw, stooe, 4– stow. Pa. pple. 4 i-stewid, 7 stoad. [f. STOW sb.1 Cf. BESTOW v.
OE. appears to have one example, stouuiʓan (= *stówian) ‘retentare’ (Corpus Gl., c. 725); but the meaning of the lemma is obscure, and the vb. recorded from the 14th c. onwards is prob. an independent formation.]
† 1. trans. To place; to put in a certain place, position or situation. Obs.
13[?]. E. E. Allit. P., B. 113. Wheþer þay wern worþy, oþer wers, wel wern þay stowed. Ibid., 352. & when ȝe arn staued, styfly stekez yow þerinne. Ibid., 360. Al wer stawed & stoken, as þe steuen wolde.
1362. Langl., P. Pl., A. V. 39. Leste þe kyng and his counseil ȝor comunes apeire, And beo stiward in oure stude til ȝe be stouwet [v.rr. stewed, stuede, stuyd, stywed, stowed] betere.
c. 1374. Chaucer, Troylus, III. 1271 (MS. Gg.). And for þou … Hast holpin þere I likly was to steruyn And me ben I-stewid [other MSS. bistowed] in so hi a plase.
1387. Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), III. 277. Tullius … seiþ þat Socrates … cleped philosofie from hevene into erþe, and stowed [L. collocavit] philosofie in citees.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 478/1. Stowyn, or cowche to-gedyr, loco, colloco.
1555. Phaër, Æneid, II. (1558), F ij. And captiue children stode, and tremblyng, wifes in long aray Were stowed about and wept.
1592. Warner, Alb. Eng., VIII. xli. (1612), 198. His eie had stoed her in his heart.
1593. Shaks., Lucr., 119. Till sable Night … in her vaultie prison, stowes the daie.
refl. 1594. R. Carew, Tasso (1881), 10. Part campt abroad, part them in circuit stowe, Another part within Tortosa lay.
b. To lodge, quarter, find room for (persons). Now only in derogatory sense (after 3).
1604. Shaks., Oth., I. ii. 62. Oh thou foule Theefe, Where hast thou stow’d my Daughter?
1607. Rowlands, Diogines Lanth., C 1 b. If thou hast roome to stooe him in thy Tunne, He will be ready both to goe and runne.
1687. A. Lovell, trans. Thevenot’s Trav., I. 277. There they lodge as well as they can, some having little Rooms made of wood, to which they go up by Ladders, and are stowed three or four together in one.
1707. Prior, Satire upon the Poets, 76. You’ve no Friend left, but trusting Landlady, Who stows you on hard Truckle, Garret high.
1739. ‘C. Dodd,’ Ch. Hist. Eng., II. 170/2. She stowed her children in a pair of panniers, and so proceeded on her journey.
1759. Robertson, Hist. Scot., II. VIII. 47. Mrs. Beatrix Ruthven was brought … as one of their gentlewomen, into the court in the evening, and stowed in a chamber prepared for her by the queen’s direction.
1760–72. H. Brooke, Fool of Qual. (1809), IV. 130. The coaches came, and Harry assisted in carrying … and gently stowing the maimed and wounded into some of them.
1788. Wesley, Jrnl., 8 July. We were much distrest at Rotheram for want of room, the rain driving us into the house. However we stowed in it as many as we possibly could.
1821. Scott, Kenilw., xxxi. I will but see him stowed, and be back with you presently.
† 2. To invest (money); to apply (money or goods) to a particular purpose; to spend. (Cf. BESTOW v. 5, 5 b.) Obs.
Sometimes written ’stow, as if short for bestow.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 478/1. Stowyn, or waryn, or besettyn, as men don moneye or chaffer, commuto.
1616. R. C., Times’ Whistle, 2544. If thou dost flow In thy frank guiftes, and thy golde freely stow, The principall will make thy pennance ebbe.
1617. Fletcher, Mad Lover, Prol. Remember, ye’ar all venturers; and in this Play How many twelve-pences ye have ’stow’d this day.
1742. Young, Nt. Th., VIII. 7. And yet Lorenzo still affects the world; There, stows his treasure.
1762. Gentl. Mag., XXXII. 287/1. When you stows eighteen pence in cakes & beer, To treat that dirty trollup, Mall Rosevear.
3. To place in a receptacle to be stored or kept in reserve. † Rarely with up.
1456. Sir G. Haye, Law Arms (S.T.S.), 111. To stou up his suerd in his furrell.
c. 1586. C’tess Pembroke, Ps. XLIX. v. Death in the pitt his carrion foode doth stow.
1596. Spenser, F. Q., IV. vii. 6. His neather lip was … like a wide deepe poke … In which he wont the relickes of his feast And cruell spoyle, which he had spard, to stow.
1601. R. Johnson, Kingd. & Commw. (1603), 224. It was fiercelie assaulted, and as valiantly defended, vntil the fire began to take hold vpon the bulwarke wherein their prouision of gunpowder was stowed.
1683. [R. North], Discourse Fish & Fish-ponds, xvi. (1713), 62. Some use to put up Fish in Baskets or Hampers for Carriage, stowing them with Grass between.
1706. E. Ward, Wooden World Diss. (1708), 53. He’s soon equipped for his Journey, for he stows all his Baggage in his Pockets.
1720. Ozell, Vertot’s Rom. Rep., II. IX. 51. [That they] had brought home not only their Purses fill’d with Gold and Silver, but had likewise stow’d it in to Pots and Vessells.
1862. Calverley, Verses & Transl. (ed. 2), 64. I … Place ’neath my head the havre-sac Which I have stowed my little all in.
1874. Symonds, Sk. Italy & Greece (1898), I. ii. 33. Raftered lofts to stow the hay.
1877. Five Yrs. Penal Serv., iii. 246. She’d smug a whole piece of silk and stow it under her petticoats.
absol. 1824. Scott, Redgauntlet, ch. xv. The Miller, or old Peel-the-Causeway, will tell you where to stow.
b. jocularly. To find room for (a quantity of food).
1833. L. Ritchie, Wand. by Loire, 54. We are still filled with curiosity … to know how they contrive to stow all they eat.
4. Naut. To place (cargo) in proper order in the hold or other receptacles in a ship; also, to store (provisions, etc.) between decks.
Possibly influenced by the (etymologically unconnected) Du. stouwen in the same sense.
1555. Instit. Gentl., E vj. Ptolomye … caused all thys golde and siluer … to bee put into certayne shippes…, and ordeyned that holes shoulde be made in the bottoms of the sayde vessels wherin he had stowed him selfe and the mony.
1598. Florio, Stipare,… Also to presse downe hard, to stowe as merchandise is in a ship.
1627. Capt. Smith, Sea Gram., vii. 33. Stowage or to stow, is to put the goods in Howle in order.
1633. T. James, Voy., 74. There stowd we a But of Wine also.
1644. Manwayring, Seamans Dict., 103. To Stowe, is to put any goods in Howld (in order, for else we say it is not stowed, but lyes in howld) also we call it stowing betweene the Decks of [read if] any goods or victuals be placed in order upon the Decks: but it is not used in this kind to small things, as to a Chest or the like.
1661. Godolphin, View Admir. Jurisd., Introd. [a 5 b]. He may not over-charge or over-lade his Ship, nor stowe Goods above her birth-mark.
1725. Pope, Odyss., II. 439. The Goddess shov’d the vessel from the shores, And stow’d within its womb the naval stores.
1743. Bulkeley & Cummins, Voy. S. Seas, 3. Here we employ’d most of our Time in getting aboard Water, and stowing our dry Provisions between Decks.
1748. Anson’s Voy., II. x. 241. They take on board a much greater quantity of water than can be stowed between decks,… yet … even a three months store of water could never be stowed in a ship so loaded.
1800. Coleridge, Wallenstein, I. vii. I am but the ship in which his hopes were stow’d.
1821. Shelley, Boat on Serchio, 74. Stow the eatables in the aft locker.
1845. Stephen, Comm. Laws Eng. (1874), II. 134. Goods stowed upon the deck.
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., I. v. 651. The human cargoes were stowed close in the holds of small vessels.
1883. Brett, in Law Times Rep. (1884), XLIX. 768/2. Part of the timber which was stowed on the deck was jettisoned by the captain of the vessel.
b. To fasten down (persons) under the hatches for confinement or safety.
1602. Marston, Antonio’s Rev., II. iv. E 1 b. Antonio’s bride, pure heart, defam’d, and stoad Vnder the hatches of obscuring earth.
1610. Shaks., Temp., I. ii. 230. The Marriners all vnder hatches stowed.
1622. Fletcher, Sea-Voy., I. i. Mast. Clap this woman under hatches … For heaven’s sake stoaw this woman.
1644. Winthrop, Hist. New Eng. (1826), II. 192. They … had stowed the lady and her people under hatches.
c. To put (guns, oars, furniture, etc.) in the proper receptacles on board.
c. 1595. Capt. Wyatt, Dudley’s Voy. (Hakl. Soc.), 58. [He] caused his leiftenant … to commaunde the gunners to make readie all such great peeces of ordinance as weare not allreadie dismounted and stowed.
1596. Savile, Libell Sp. Lies, 24. As for the Oares … they had stoed them aboarde their Shippes.
1700. Dryden, Fables, Ceyx & Alcyone, 107. Some stow their Oars or stop the leaky Sides.
1726. Swift, Gulliver, I. viii. I took out my other cables, which were stowed in one of the ships.
1857. C. Gribble, in Merc. Marine Mag. (1858), V. 8. [They] stowed the anchors, and made all sail for sea.
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., Stowing Hammocks, placing them in a neat and symmetrical order in the hammock-netting.
d. To furl (a sail).
1644. Manwayring, Seamans Dict., 103. Also the placing and laying of the top-sailes in the top, is called Stowing the top-sailes.
1769. Falconer, Dict. Marine, II. (1780), Dedans, when expressed of the sails, imports furled or stowed.
1823. W. Scoresby, Jrnl., 302. We close-reefed the top-sails, and stowed the courses.
1836. Marryat, Pirate, i. The men were … stowing away the foretopmast-staysail.
1885. Lady Brassey, The Trades, 465. 8 A.M.—Stowed foresail…. 10 P.M.—Stowed topgallant sail.
e. To slow down: to put down into a vessel’s hold; in quot., to yield (a certain quantity) to be stowed down.
1850. Scoresby, Cheever’s Whaleman’s Adv., xii. (1858), 178. That whale stowed us down eighty-five barrels of oil.
f. Of a ship: To have stowage-room for; to hold. ? Obs.
1615. E. S., Britaines Buss, in Arber, Eng. Garner, III. 635. The Buss can conveniently stow at once but 34 Last of Caske.
1617. Fletcher, Mad Lover, IV. i. Shall thy black Bark those guilty spirits stow That kill themselves for love?
1645. Winthrop, Hist. New Eng. (1826), II. 240. He entertained as many as his ship could stow.
5. a. Naut. To fili (the hold of a shif, etc.) with cargo; to load (a ship). Also, to fit up (a ship), supply with necessaries.
1692. Capt. Smith’s Seaman’s Gram., I. xvi. 78. Stowing the Hold, is when they take goods into the Hold.
1703. trans. Lahontan’s Voy. N. Amer., I. 127. Upon that occasion I repeated my Presents; in compensation of which, my Pirogues were stow’d with Beef as full as they could hold.
1755. Magens, Insurances, II. 16. If … Master overloads his Ship or stows it unskilful.
1845. Encycl. Metrop., VI. 383/1. This officer is directed … to obtain the most correct information he can of the manner in which the hold was stowed when she was last in commission.
1856. Kane, Arct. Expl., I. xix. 234. I find upon my return the brig so stowed and refitted that four days would prepare us for sea.
b. transf. To fill (a receptacle), to pack (full, close) with things or persons; to crowd with contents.
1710. C. Shadwell, Fair Quaker Deal, I. i. 15. [A sailor speaks.] Pshaw, who would not stand all this, to have their upper and lower Teer well Stow’d with Flip?
1758. Wesley, Jrnl., 11 Oct. The House was stowed as full as possible, but still many were constrained to stand without.
1785. Burns, To W. Simpson, 24. Ye Enbrugh Gentry! The tythe o’ what ye waste at cartes Wad stow’d his [Fergusson’s] pantry!
1815. Scott, Guy M., xxxix. The lawyer afterwards compared his mind to the magazine of a pawnbroker, stowed with goods of every description, but [etc.].
1817. Coleridge, Biogr. Lit., II. 207. The passage boat … was stowed close with all people of all nations.
1849. Cupples, Green Hand, iii. (1856), 33. The window [of the shop] was stowed full of cakes of cavendish, twists of negrohead, and coils of pigtail.
1850. R. G. Cumming, Hunter’s Life S. Afr. (1902), 52/1. The morning was spent in stowing the waggons, greasing the wheels, [etc.].
6. Stow away. a. trans. To remove and store until required; to put (a thing) away in a secret or not readily accessible place, or where it will be out of the way; occas. to put or lodge (a person) in out-of-the-way quarters, or in a place of concealment; jocularly, to ‘put out of sight,’ ‘dispose of,’ eat up (quantities of food).
1795. Vancouver, Agric. Essex, 23. Successive hoeings [of the carrots] will cost about four pounds per acre: and gathering, lopping, tailing, and stowing away, will be about four pounds per acre more.
1825. T. Hook, Sayings, Ser. II. Passion & Princ., vi. He was ‘stowed away’ in a manner perfectly suitable, as the chambermaid thought, to the condition of an outside passenger … who … carried his own portmanteau up stairs.
1833. Ht. Martineau, Vanderput & S., i. 1. The bales of merchandize which could not be stowed away before dark.
1847. C. Brontë, Jane Eyre, v. At last the guard returned; once more I was stowed away in the coach.
1857. Dufferin, Lett. High Lat., vii. (ed. 3), 133. We had some difficulty about stowing away the legs of a tall philosopher.
1865. Livingstone, Zambesi, vii. 169. They … eat till it becomes physically impossible for them to stow away any more.
a. 1881. A. Barratt, Phys. Metempiric (1883), 253. On the spiritual theory, past ideas … must be imagined to be stowed away in some fashion, to exist all the time till they happen to be wanted.
1885. Chitty, in Law Times’ Rep., LIII. 83/2. The plate … is now stowed away in the strong room of a bank.
refl. 1849. Cupples, Green Hand, xi. (1856), 114. Then I shins aloft up a tree, where I stowed myself away till noon.
b. intr. for refl. To conceal oneself on board a ship, to be a STOWAWAY.
1879. Stevenson, Ess. Trav., Amateur Emigrant (1905), 62. He had now made up his mind to stow away.
1916. Daily Chron., 3 Feb. They escaped and reached Gibraltar on a steamer on which they had stowed away.
† 7. slang. a. intr. To cease speaking, ‘shut up.’ Obs. b. trans. To desist from.
1567. Harman, Caveat (1869), 84. Stow you, holde your peace.
1676. Coles, Stow your whids, c[anting], speak warily.
a. 1700. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, Stow, you have said enough.
1796. Grose’s Dict. Vulgar T. (ed. 3), Stow you, be silent, or hold your peace.
1806. Naval Chron., XV. 18. A sailor … bawled … for those aloft to stow their jabber.
1812. J. H. Vaux, Flash Dict., s.v., To stow any business, employment, or mode of life, is the same as to stash it, &c. Ibid., Stow, stow it, or stow-faking, an intimation from a thief to his pall, to desist from what he is about.
1838. Dickens, O. Twist, xv. ‘Stow that gammon,’ interposed the robber, impatiently.
1857. ‘Ducange Anglicus,’ Vulgar Tongue, 20. Stow your mag, hold your tongue. L[ow] Life.
1865. H. Kingsley, Hillyars & Burtons, xxxiii. ‘Stow larks, Jimmy,’ said the constable.
1882. ‘Ouida,’ Under Two Flags, xxv. (1890), 391. ‘Stow that, sir,’ cried Rake, vehemently.
1884. Henley & Stevenson, Adm. Guinea, III. ii. (1892), 232. Pew. Stow your gab (seizing his wrist).
† 8. Obscure or uncertain senses: a. ? To bring to a stand; b. ? To arrest, imprison. Obs.
a. c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 478/1. Stowyn, or charyn ageyne[,] cowpyn, idem quod Stoppyn.
b. c. 1450. Cov. Myst., Wom. Adultery (1841), 217. Accusator. Stow that harlot sum erthely wyght…. Juvenis. Ȝiff any man stow me this nyth, I xal hym ȝeve a dedly wownde.
1546. Gardiner, Declar. Joye, 15. Ye crye stowe the thefe, to hyde your selfe with the noyse.
1614. R. Tailor, Hog hath lost Pearl, II. C 3 b. My lord and father hath put them all to the bastinado twice this morning already; not a wayting woman but has been stowed ifaith.
g. Comb. stow-board Mining (see quots.); stow-down, the action of stowing down (cargo); that which is stowed down (see 4 e); stow-master, a man in charge of the stowing of a boat; stow-road, stow-wood (see quots.).
1851. Greenwell, Coal-Trade Terms, Northumb. & Durh., 53. *Stow-board, a board driven for convenience of stowage.
1860. Mining Gloss., Newcastle Terms, 64. Stowbord, a place into which rubbish is put.
1883. Gresley, Gloss. Coal-mining, 243. Stow-board, a board or heading in which débris is stowed.
1857. P. Colquhoun, Oarsman’s Guide, 22. One [man] should do the cooking;… another act as *stow-master.
1886. J. Barrowman, Sc. Mining Terms, 65. *Stow road, an abandoned road in which debris is stowed.
1846. A. Young, Naut. Dict., 324. *Stow-wood, billets of wood used as chocks for steadying casks in a vessel’s hold.
