Plough

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
plough /plaʊ/ (US plow)

▶noun

• 1 a large farming implement with one or more blades fixed in a frame, drawn over soil to turn it over and cut furrows in preparation for the planting of seeds.

  ■ land that has been ploughed.

• 2 (the Plough) Brit. a prominent formation of seven stars in the constellation Ursa Major (the Great Bear).

▶verb

• 1 turn up (earth) with a plough.

• 2 (often plough into) (of a vehicle) move in a fast and uncontrolled manner.

  ■ (of a ship or boat) travel through (an area of water).

  ■ (often plough on) advance or progress laboriously or forcibly.

• 3 (plough something in) invest or reinvest money in a business.

• 4 chiefly N. Amer. clear snow from (a road) using a snowplough.

• 5 Brit. informal, dated fail (an examination).

– derivatives
ploughable adjective,
plougher noun.

– origin OE plōh, of Gmc origin.