1.  The mature female of bovine animals. [1913 Webster]

2.  The female of certain large mammals, as whales, seals, etc. [1913 Webster]

   A chimney cap; a cowl [1913 Webster]

   To depress with fear; to daunt the spirits or courage of; to overawe. [1913 Webster]
"To vanquish a people already cowed." [1913 Webster]
"THe French king was cowed." [1913 Webster]

   A wedge, or brake, to check the motion of a machine or car; a chock. Knight. [1913 Webster]

cow, n.
1 a fully grown female of any bovine animal, esp. of the genus Bos, used as a source of milk and beef.
2 the female of other large animals, esp. the elephant, whale, and seal.
3 derog. sl. a a woman esp. a coarse or unpleasant one. b Austral. & NZ an unpleasant person, thing, situation, etc.

Idiom:
cow-fish
1 any of several small plant-eating mammals, e.g. the manatee.
2 a marine fish, Lactoria diaphana, covered in hard bony plates and having hornlike spines over the eyes and on other parts of the body. cow-heel the foot of a cow or an ox stewed to a jelly. cow-lick a projecting lock of hair. cow-parsley a hedgerow plant Anthriscus sylvestris, having lacelike umbels of flowers: also called Queen Anne's lace. cow-pat a flat round piece of cow-dung. cow-tree a tree, Brosimum galactodendron, native to S. America, yielding a milklike juice which is used as a substitute for cow's milk. cow-wheat any plant of the genus Melampyrum, esp. M. pratense growing on heathland. till the cows come home colloq. an indefinitely long time.

cow, v.tr. (usu. in passive) intimidate or dispirit (cowed by ill-treatment).

Etymology:
prob. f. ON k{uacute}ga oppress

VB  fear, stand in awe of, be afraid, have qualms, apprehend, sit upon thorns, eye askance, distrust, hesitate, falter, funk, cower, crouch, skulk, let 'I dare not' wait upon 'I would' take fright, take alarm, start, wince, flinch, shy, shrink, fly, tremble, shake, shiver, shiver in one's shoes, shudder, flutter, shake like an aspen leaf, tremble like an aspen leaf, tremble all over, quake, quaver, quiver, quail, grow pale, turn pale, blench, stand aghast, not dare to say one's soul is one's own, inspire fear, excite fear, inspire awe, excite awe, raise apprehensions, be in a daze, bulldoze, faze, feeze, give an alarm, raise an alarm, sound an alarm, alarm, startle, scare, cry 'wolf', disquiet, dismay, fright, frighten, terrify, astound, fright from one's propriety, fright out of one's senses, fright out of one's wits, fright out of one's seven senses, awe, strike all of a heap, strike an awe into, strike terror, harrow up the soul, appall, unman, petrify, horrify, pile on the agony, make one's flesh creep, make one's hair stand on end, make one's blood run cold, make one's teeth chatter, take away one's breath, stop one's breath, make one tremble, haunt, prey on the mind, weigh on the mind, put in fear, put in bodily fear, terrorize, intimidate, cow, daunt, overawe, abash, deter, discourage, browbeat, bully, threaten.

N  animal, animal kingdom, fauna, brute creation, beast, brute, creature, critter, wight, created being, creeping thing, living thing, dumb animal, dumb creature, zoophyte, mammal, bird, reptile, amphibian, fish, crustacean, shellfish, mollusk, worm, insect, arthropod, microbe, microbe, animalcule, alligator, crocodile, saurian, dinosaur (extinct), snake, serpent, viper, eft, asp, aspick, frog, toad, trout, bass, tuna, muskelunge, sailfish, sardine, mackerel, ant, mosquito, bee, honeybee, tardigrade, spider, biped, quadruped, webfoot, flocks and herds, live stock, domestic animals, wild animals, game, ferae naturae, beasts of the field, fowls of the air, denizens of the sea, black game, black grouse, blackcock, duck, grouse, plover, rail, snipe, horse, cattle, kine, ox, bull, bullock, cow, milch cow, calf, heifer, shorthorn, sheep, lamb, lambkin, ewe, ram, tup, pig, swine, boar, hog, sow, steer, stot, tag, teg, bison, buffalo, yak, zebu, dog, cat, dog, hound, pup, puppy, whelp, cur, mongrel, house dog, watch dog, sheep dog, shepherd's dog, sporting dog, fancy dog, lap dog, toy dog, bull dog, badger dog, mastiff, blood hound, grey hound, stag hound, deer hound, fox hound, otter hound, harrier, beagle, spaniel, pointer, setter, retriever, Newfoundland, water dog, water spaniel, pug, poodle, turnspit, terrier, fox terrier, Skye terrier, Dandie Dinmont, collie, feline, puss, pussy, grimalkin, gib cat, tom cat, fox, Reynard, vixen, stag, deer, hart, buck, doe, roe, caribou, coyote, elk, moose, musk ox, sambar, bird, poultry, fowl, cock, hen, chicken, chanticleer, partlet, rooster, dunghill cock, barn door fowl, feathered tribes, feathered songster, singing bird, dicky bird, canary, warbler, finch, aberdevine, cushat, cygnet, ringdove, siskin, swan, wood pigeon, vermin, varmint, pest, animal, zoological equine, bovine, vaccine, canine, feline, fishy, piscatory, piscatorial, molluscous, vermicular, gallinaceous, rasorial, solidungulate, soliped.

N  woman, she, her, female, petticoat, feminality, muliebrity, womanhood, womankind, the sex, the fair, fair sex, softer sex, weaker vessel, dame, madam, madame, mistress, Mrs, lady, donna belle, matron, dowager, goody, gammer, Frau, frow, Vrouw, rani, good woman, good wife, squaw, wife, matronage, matronhood, bachelor girl, new woman, feminist, suffragette, suffragist, nymph, wench, grisette, girl, sissy, betty, cot betty, cotquean, henhussy, mollycoddle, muff, old woman, hen, bitch, sow, doe, roe, mare, she goat, Nanny goat, tabita, ewe, cow, lioness, tigress, vixen, gynecaeum, estrogen, oestrogen, consanguinity &c, paternity, lesbian, dyke, female, she-, feminine, womanly, ladylike, matronly, maidenly, wifely, womanish, effeminate, unmanly, gynecic, gynaecic, Pron, she, her, hers, ', a perfect woman nobly planned, a lovely lady garmented in white, das Ewig-Weibliche zieht uns hinan, earth's noblest thing, a woman perfected, es de vidrio la mujer, she moves a goddess and she looks a queen, the beauty of a lovely woman is like music, varium et mutabile semper femina, woman is the lesser man.

ant cow, cash cow, cow barn, cow chip, cow cockle, cow dung, cow lily, cow man, cow manure, cow oak, cow parsley, cow parsnip, cow pasture, cow pen, cow pie, cow pony, cow shark, cow tree, dairy cow, mad cow disease, milch cow, milk cow, sacred cow, sea cow, springing cow, steller's sea cow