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Definition of "bower" []

  • A shaded, leafy recess; an arbor. (noun)
  • A woman's private chamber in a medieval castle; a boudoir. (noun)
  • A rustic cottage; a country retreat. (noun)
  • To enclose in or as if in a bower; embower. (verb-transitive)
  • Nautical An anchor carried at the bow. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "bower" in a sentence
  • "Technically, a bower is a depression in the earth similar to, but smaller than a valley."
  • "When I say my own circle, I mean by it my three plantations, viz., my castle, my country seat, which I called my bower, and my enclosure in the woods."
  • "Yet I entertained such an abhorrence of the savage wretches that I have been speaking of, and of the wretched, inhuman custom of their devouring and eating one another up, that I continued pensive and sad, and kept close within my own circle for almost two years after this: when I say my own circle, I mean by it my three plantations - viz. my castle, my country seat (which I called my bower), and my enclosure in the woods: nor did I look after this for any other use than an enclosure for my goats; for the aversion which nature gave me to these hellish wretches was such, that I was as fearful of seeing them as of seeing the devil himself."