mower

IPA/ˈməʊə(r)/
KK[mˈoɚ]IPA/ˈməʊər/

mower — noun

  • mowersingular
  • mowersplural

1. a piece of equipment with rotating blades that you push or ride on, used to keep

1.nounB1
Definition

a piece of equipment with rotating blades that you push or ride on, used to keep lawns and other grassy areas short and tidy.

Example

Noa pushed the heavy mower across the back lawn on Saturday morning.

push the mower (typical action verb)

The old petrol mower coughed twice before Walid finally got it started.

petrol mower (common modifier)

Common collocations
  • push the mower
  • start the mower
  • petrol mower
  • electric mower
  • ride-on mower
  • robot mower
Synonyms
  • lawn mower

    the full standard compound; in everyday speech often shortened to just 'mower'

  • grass cutter

    more generic; can include hand tools and strimmers, not only wheeled machines

Grammar Patterns

a/the mower

petrol/electric mower

Usage Note

Almost always countable and concrete. Frequently modified by power source (petrol, electric, battery) or design type (push, ride-on, hover, robot).

Common Mistakes

I cut the grass with a mow.
I cut the grass with a mower.
the tool is 'mower'; 'mow' is the verb for the action.
My father uses a grass mower every weekend.
My father uses a lawn mower every weekend.
the standard compound is 'lawn mower', not 'grass mower'.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

'Mower' and 'lawn mower' name the same object — a wheeled machine with rotating blades for cutting lawns. 'Lawn mower' is the full, slightly more formal compound; 'mower' on its own is the everyday short form that English speakers default to in conversation. 'Grass cutter' is a broader, more descriptive term that some non-native speakers prefer, but native users mostly reserve it for hand-held or small farm tools rather than the typical garden machine. 'Strimmer' (British English) or 'weed whacker' (American English) is a separate hand-held tool with a spinning nylon cord, used for edges and corners that a mower cannot reach. So a typical home gardener owns one mower and one strimmer, not two mowers.

mower ↗lawn mowergrass cutterstrimmer

Common collocations

Nouns

  • lawn mower
  • petrol mower
  • electric mower
  • ride-on mower
  • robot mower
  • mower blade

Phrases

  • start the mower
  • push the mower
  • park the mower in the shed

Prepositions

  • with a mower
  • behind the mower

Etymology

Old EnglishMiddle EnglishModern English

From the verb 'mow' (Old English māwan, 'to cut grass with a scythe') plus the agent suffix '-er'. Originally applied to a person who mowed grass or grain by hand; the meaning shifted to mechanical grass-cutting machines after such devices were invented in the early nineteenth century.