Word.ws English Dictionary

in tow

in tow prepositional phrase: pulled by means of an attached line, such as a cable, chain, or rope.

Prepositional phrase

  1. (usually) Pulled by means of an attached line, such as a cable, chain, or rope.
    • "Do you remember the ship? . . . I mean the dismasted eighty-four that was in tow of the frigate."1842, James Fenimore Cooper, chapter 13, in The Wing and Wing
    • Far down the field a C-47 cargo plane with two loaded gliders in tow began to move slowly up the runway.1944 December 10, “Freight Carriers, Gliders and Hospital Planes Take Part in Preview of Air Borne Unit's Show”, in Milwaukee Journal, retrieved 09 Aug 2010, page 1
    Synonyms:
    on tow, under tow
  2. (figuratively, usually) Following or accompanying under the direction of another, as if attached by a line and being pulled.
    • "He's got a man from Cincinnati in tow, and they are going to dine at the Calumet Club."1903, Frank Norris, chapter 2, in The Pit
    • The House of Representatives hummed with excitement as Congressmen and Senators, many with their spouses and children in tow, awaited the man of the hour.1987 October 5, “Central America: Speaking His Peace”, in Time

in tow meaning in Kannada

in tow in Kannada

ಹಿಂಬಾಲಿಸು, ಅನುಸರಿಸು

Examples of in tow in a sentence

  • Presently the wind nearly died out, and the galley and prizes then took the coasters and fishing craft in tow.1896, G. A. Henty, chapter 15, in A Knight of the White Cross:
  • Doctor Blimber accompanied them; and Paul had the honour of being taken in tow by the Doctor himself.1846 October 1 – 1848 April 1, Charles Dickens, chapter 12, in Dombey and Son, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1848, →OCLC:
  • Then with an impertinent presumption she came running out the front door with the maid moving in tow.2005, William Mueller, Rome Revisited, →ISBN, page 10:

Synonyms of in tow

Questions about in tow

What does in tow mean?
In tow means pulled by means of an attached line, such as a cable, chain, or rope.
What is in tow in Kannada?
In tow in Kannada is ಹಿಂಬಾಲಿಸು, ಅನುಸರಿಸು. See In tow meaning in Kannada.
How do you use in tow in a sentence?
Presently the wind nearly died out, and the galley and prizes then took the coasters and fishing craft in tow.
What part of speech is in tow?
In tow is a prepositional phrase.

Words near in tow in the dictionary

  1. in too deep
  2. in total
  3. in totality
  4. in toto
  5. in touch
  6. in tow
  7. in town
  8. in trade
  9. in train
  10. in transit
  11. in transitu

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: in tow (page history and authors); in tow (Kannada Wiktionary) (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.

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