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vow
[ vou ]
noun
- a solemn promise, pledge, or personal commitment:
marriage vows; a vow of secrecy.
- a solemn promise made to a deity or saint committing oneself to an act, service, or condition.
- a solemn or earnest declaration.
verb (used with object)
- to make a vow of; promise by a vow, as to God or a saint:
to vow a crusade or a pilgrimage.
- to pledge or resolve solemnly to do, make, give, observe, etc.:
They vowed revenge.
- to declare solemnly or earnestly; assert emphatically (often followed by a clause as object):
She vowed that she would take the matter to court.
- to dedicate or devote by a vow:
to vow oneself to the service of God.
verb (used without object)
- to make a vow.
- to make a solemn or earnest declaration.
vow
/ vaʊ /
noun
- a solemn or earnest pledge or promise binding the person making it to perform a specified act or behave in a certain way
- a solemn promise made to a deity or saint, by which the promiser pledges himself to some future act, course of action, or way of life
- take vowsto enter a religious order and commit oneself to its rule of life by the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, which may be taken for a limited period as simple vows or as a perpetual and still more solemn commitment as solemn vows
verb
- tr; may take a clause as object or an infinitive to pledge, promise, or undertake solemnly
he vowed to return
he vowed that he would continue
- tr to dedicate or consecrate to God, a deity, or a saint
- tr; usually takes a clause as object to assert or swear emphatically
- archaic.intr to declare solemnly
Derived Forms
- ˈvowless, adjective
- ˈvower, noun
Other Words From
- vower noun
- vowless adjective
- un·vowed adjective
Word History and Origins
Origin of vow1
Word History and Origins
Origin of vow1
Idioms and Phrases
- take vows, to enter a religious order or house.
Example Sentences
Trump vowed during the US election campaign to bring the war to an end quickly, and preliminary US-Russian talks were held in Saudi Arabia last month - without European or Ukrainian representatives present.
Following a coordinated social media campaign from parks employees and outdoors enthusiasts across the country, the Trump administration restored the seasonal positions and vowed to hire hundreds more temporary employees this year.
At the EPA, Trump has already put more than 1,000 workers on notice that their jobs are in peril, and throughout the 2024 campaign he vowed to completely gut the agency.
Earlier on Tuesday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau slammed Trump's sweeping tariffs on his country, calling it a "very dumb thing to do" and vowed to conduct a "relentless fight" to protect its economy.
Meanwhile China - which now faces tariffs of 20% after Trump doubled an earlier levy - has vowed to fight any trade war to the "bitter end".
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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