What does furrow mean?
A furrow is a long, narrow groove or trench cut into the ground, classically by a plough, in which seeds are sown and water channelled. The word also describes any similar groove or crease, and it carries a familiar figurative meaning: the 'furrowed brow', the wrinkling of the forehead that signals worry, concentration, or advancing age. In agriculture, furrowing organises fields into orderly rows and remains central to traditional cultivation, while in everyday language the term most often appears on people's faces rather than in their fields. Derived forms include 'furrowed' to describe a surface marked by such lines. The word has deep roots in English farming history — indeed, the furlong, still used in horse racing, originally meant a 'furrow long', the distance an ox team could plough before resting. Whether evoking tidy ploughland or a troubled expression, furrow neatly connects the landscape of the farm with the language of human emotion.
A long, narrow trench or groove cut into the ground by a plough, or more generally any similar groove or crease in a surface.
"The old field still showed the furrows left by generations of ploughing."
In modern usage the noun also commonly refers metaphorically to lines or wrinkles on the face, especially a furrowed brow.
To cut furrows in the ground by ploughing, or figuratively to form wrinkles or creases, as in furrowing one's brow.
"He furrowed the seedbed carefully before the autumn rains came."
As a farming term the verb is associated with 'plough' (British) or 'plow' (American) spelling conventions.
The standard plural is simply 'furrows'; the plural is regular and uncontroversial, describing multiple grooves or trenches.
"After the storm, water pooled in the furrows between the rows."
The furlong got its name because it was literally a 'furrow long' — the stretch of field an ox team could plough before needing a rest.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of furrow
Furrow comes from the Old English 'furh', meaning a trench or groove, reflecting the word's origins in the farming culture of Anglo-Saxon England. It belongs to the native Germanic vocabulary of English rather than deriving from Latin or French, and it corresponds closely to cognate forms in other West Germanic languages, such as the Dutch 'voor' and German 'Furche'. The related English word 'furlong' preserves the old compound 'furh + lang', literally a 'furrow long'. The sense of a facial wrinkle developed later, extending the idea of a groove from soil to skin.
Related word forms
How furrow is actually used
Both the noun and verb are standard across British and American English, though the verb of farming is usually written 'plough' in Britain and 'plow' in the United States. The figurative use — 'furrowed brow' to signal worry, concentration, or age — is far more common in everyday speech than the agricultural sense, which now survives mainly in rural, historical, or literary contexts.
Easily confused with furrow
A burrow is a hole or tunnel dug by an animal for shelter, whereas a furrow is a groove ploughed into soil for planting.