kowtow – מילון אנגלי-אנגלי
kowtow
v.
bow low, kneel and touch one's forehead to the ground; grovel, act in a servile manner
n.
act of bowing low, act of kneeling and touching one's forehead to the ground; servile act
Kowtow
Kowtow, which is borrowed from
kau tau in Cantonese (
koutou in Mandarin Chinese), is the act of deep respect shown by
prostration, that is,
kneeling and bowing so low as to have one's head touching the ground. An alternative Chinese term is
ketou; however, the meaning is somewhat altered:
kou has the general meaning of
knock, whereas
ke has the general meaning of "touch upon (a surface)",
tou meaning head.
kowtow
Noun
1. a former Chinese custom of touching the ground with the forehead as a sign of respect or submission
(synonym) kotow
(hypernym) bow, bowing, obeisance
(derivation) fawn, toady, truckle, bootlick, kotow, suck up
Verb
1. bend the knees and bow in a servile manner
(synonym) scrape, genuflect
(hypernym) bow
(derivation) kotow
2. try to gain favor by cringing or flattering; "He is always kowtowing to his boss"
(synonym) fawn, toady, truckle, bootlick, kotow, suck up
(hypernym) flatter, blandish
(hyponym) curry favor, curry favour, court favor, court favour
(derivation) kotow
Kowtow
(n. & v. i.)
The same as Kotow.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), edited by Noah Porter.
About
kowtow
do as someone wishes, brown nose, suck up to Marie won't kowtow to anyone. She's proud and independent.
