harrowing

/ˈhæɹəʊ.ɪŋ/

harrowing is the present participle and gerund of harrow.

Noun

harrowing (plural harrowings)

The process of breaking up earth with a harrow.
- The field received two harrowings.
Suffering, torment.
Ravaging; hostile incursion; spoliation; intentional widespread destruction.
- Scientists who complain about the helplessness of politicians might consider the desolation in England which followed the harrowing of the north by William the Conqueror or the state of the Palatinate long after the end of the Thirty Years War[.]1956 April, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Chicago, page 122, column 1
1. Christ's ravaging or hostile incursion of Hell, conducted between his crucifixion and resurrection, in which he liberated the souls of the righteous held captive by Satan.
  - As in other myths, like Christ's harrowing of hell, the initiate descends into the netherworld for the magical three days.1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 178
  - In the harrowing, Christ sweeps down upon death, hell, and the Devil, smashes down the doors of hell, and triumphantly carries the just off to heaven.1986, Jeffrey Burton Russell, Lucifer: The Devil in the Middle Ages, →ISBN, page 108

harrow (third-person singular simple present harrows, present participle harrowing, simple past and past participle harrowed)

(transitive) To drag a harrow over; to break up with a harrow.
- Will he harrow the valleys after thee?1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Job 39:10
(transitive) To traumatize or disturb; to torment, distress or vex.
- It harrows me with fear and wonder.c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac...
Synonyms:

anguish, distress, trouble, afflict, lacerate, aggrieve, plague, atray, cag, engrieve
(transitive) To break or tear, as if with a harrow; to wound; to lacerate.
- my aged muscles harrow'd up with whips1707, Nicholas Rowe, The Royal Convert
Synonyms:

damage, harm, torture, abuse, annoy, bewound, damnify, dere, do damage to, do for

harrowing (comparative more harrowing, superlative most harrowing)

(formal) Causing pain or distress; harrying.
- Harrowing journeys down the dark roads of anger, violence, and madness2006, Paul Chadwick, Concrete: Killer Smile, Dark Horse Books, cover text
- Toward the end of the war, Benoit was sent off on his own with forged papers; he wound up working as a horse groom at a chalet in the Loire valley. Mandelbrot describes this harrowing youth with great sangfroid.2013 January, Brian Hayes, “Father of Fractals”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 1, page 62

By surface analysis, harrow + -ing.

What does harrowing mean?: Harrowing means causing pain or distress; harrying.
What is harrowing the present participle and gerund of?: Harrowing is the present participle and gerund of harrow.
What part of speech is harrowing?: Harrowing can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce harrowing?: Harrowing is pronounced /ˈhæɹəʊ.ɪŋ/ (UK).

Adapted from Wiktionary: harrowing (page history and authors); harrow (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-harrowing.wav.

Cite this entry: “harrowing.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/harrowing. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.