Syn. — Timid; fearful; timorous; dastardly; pusillanimous; recreant; craven; faint-hearted; chicken-hearted; white-
livered.
Cowardly
(Cow"ard*ly), adv. In the manner of a coward. Spenser.
Cowardship
(Cow"ard*ship), n. Cowardice. [Obs.] Shak.
Cowbane
(Cow"bane`) n. (Bot.) A poisonous umbelliferous plant; in England, the Cicuta virosa; in the
United States, the Cicuta maculata and the Archemora rigida. See Water hemlock.
Cowberry
(Cow"ber`ry) n.; pl. Cowberries (- riz). (Bot.) A species of Vaccinium which bears acid
red berries which are sometimes used in cookery; — locally called mountain cranberry.
Cowbird
(Cow"bird`) n. (Zoöl.) The cow blackbird (Molothrus ater), an American starling. Like the European
cuckoo, it builds no nest, but lays its eggs in the nests of other birds; — so called because frequently
associated with cattle.
Cowblakes
(Cow"blakes`) n. pl. Dried cow dung used as fuel.[Prov. Eng.] Simmonds.
Cowboy
(Cow"boy`) n.
1. A cattle herder; a drover; specifically, one of an adventurous class of herders and drovers on the plains
of the Western and Southwestern United States.
2. One of the marauders who, in the Revolutionary War infested the neutral ground between the American
and British lines, and committed depredations on the Americans.
Cowcatcher
(Cow"catch`er) n. A strong inclined frame, usually of wrought-iron bars, in front of a locomotive
engine, for catching or throwing off obstructions on a railway, as cattle; the pilot. [U.S.]
Cowdie
(Cow"die) n. (Bot.) See Kauri.
Cower
(Cow"er) v. i. [imp. & p. p. Cowered (kou"erd); p. pr. & vb. n. Cowering.] [Cf. Icel. kera
to doze, liequiet, Sw. kura, Dan. kure, G. kauern to cower, W. cwrian.] To stoop by bending the
knees; to crouch; to squat; hence, to quail; to sink through fear.
Our dame sits cowering o'er a kitchen fire.
Dryden.
Like falcons, cowering on the nest.
Goldsmith.
Cower
(Cow"er) v. t. To cherish with care. [Obs.]
Cowfish
(Cow"fish`) n. (Zoöl.) (a) The grampus. (b) A California dolphin (Tursiops Gillii). (c) A marine
plectognath fish having two projections, like horns, in front; — called also cuckold, coffer fish, trunkfish.
Cowhage
(Cow"hage) n. [Cf. Hind. kaw&amcnch, koanch.] (Bot.) A leguminous climbing plant of
the genus Mucuna, having crooked pods covered with sharp hairs, which stick to the fingers, causing
intolerable itching. The spiculæ are sometimes used in medicine as a mechanical vermifuge. [Written also
couhage, cowage, and cowitch.]
Cowhearted
(Cow"heart`ed) a. Cowardly.
The Lady Powis . . . patted him with her fan, and called him a cowhearted fellow.
R. North.
Cowherd
(Cow"herd`) n. [AS. cuhyrde; cu cow + hyrde a herder.] One whose occupation is to tend
cows.
