marrow
/ˈmæɹoʊ//ˈmæɹəʊ/
marrow noun: the substance inside bones which produces blood cells.
Noun (1)
marrow (countable and uncountable, plural marrows)
- The substance inside bones which produces blood cells.
- Turning back, then, toward the basement staircase, she began to grope her way through blinding darkness, but had taken only a few uncertain steps when, of a sudden, she stopped short and for a little stood like a stricken thing, quite motionless save that she quaked to her very marrow in the grasp...1914 November, Louis Joseph Vance, “An Outsider […]”, in Munsey’s Magazine, volume LIII, number II, New York, N.Y.: The Frank A[ndrew] Munsey Company, […], published 1915, →OCLC, chapter III...
- Chop me up, I like to be hurt / Drink my marrow and blood for dessert2004, “Eaten”, in Nightmares Made Flesh, performed by Bloodbath
- A kind of vegetable similar to a large courgette, zucchini or squash; the mature fruit of certain Cucurbita pepo cultivars.
- The finest European vegetables, cabbages, cauliflowers, potatoes, vegetable marrow, were lying in the market-hall, awaiting purchasers.1847, Sir Robert Hermann Schomburgk, “Steam-Boat Voyage to Barbados”, in Bentley's Miscellany, volume XXII, London: Richard Bentley, page 37
- The pith of certain plants.
- The essence; the best part.
- It takes from our achievements[…]/ The pith and marrow of our attribute.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...
- I cannot commend , with theefe of his marrow, for feare of ill end1557 February 13 (Gregorian calendar), Thomas Tusser, A Hundreth Good Pointes of Husbandrie, London: […] Richard Tottel, →OCLC; republished London: […] Robert Triphook, […], and William Sancho, […]...
- The inner meaning or purpose.
- Bone marrow biopsy.
- This patient will have a marrow today.
- Semen.
- Parolles: He wears his honour in a box, unseen / That hugs his kicky-wicky here at home, / Spending his manly marrow in her arms / Of Mars’s fiery steed.c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
Noun (2)
marrow (plural marrows)
- A friend, pal, buddy, mate.
- Cheers marrow!
- A miner's mate or assistant.
- A 'getter' or miner is paid 1½ to 2 cents per hundred weight of Coals excavated, […] but out of this sum, his "marrows" or assistants who do the business of 'putting' and 'hurrying' for him must be paid […]1855, Mining Magazine, page 519
- One of a pair; a match; a companion; an intimate associate.
- The moon’s my constant Mistresse / & the lowlie owle my morrowe. / The flaming Drake and yͤ Nightcrowe make / mee musicke to my sorrowe.c. 1620, anonymous, “Tom o’ Bedlam’s Song” in Giles Earle his Booke (British Museum, Additional MSS. 24, 665)
- The dreichest saul could see he had sunlicht in his ee, / And there's no his marrow left in the toun.[1917, John Buchan, “[Theocritus in Scots.] The Kirn (Idyll vii).”, in Poems: Scots and English (in Scots), London; Edinburgh: T. C. & E. C. Jack, →OCLC, book I (Scots), page 38
Proper noun capitalized: Marrow
Marrow (plural Marrows)
- A surname.
marrow meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
marrow in Hindi
- substance inside bones
- अस्थि मज्जा asthi majjā, मज्जा majjā, गूदा gūdā
marrow in Tamil
- எலும்பு உட்திசு, எலும்பு ஊன், மஜ்ஜை, மச்சை
marrow in Urdu
- آڑ, گھیا, گودا, جوڑ, لوکی, لب
marrow in Bengali
- substance inside bones
- মজ্জা mojja
More languagesFewer languages
- marrow in Telugu
- మూలగ mūlaga
- marrow in Malayalam
- മജ്ജ, ആന്തരാർത്ഥം, മേദസ്സ്
- marrow in Kannada
- ನೆಣ, ತುಪ್ಪ, ಮಜ್ಜೆ
- marrow in Sanskrit
- मज्जन् majjan, हड्डज haḍḍaja
- marrow in Sinhala
- මේදය mēdaya
- marrow in Nepali
- मैरो
- marrow in Tagalog
- utik
- marrow in Arabic
- نِقْيُ ٱلْعَظْم niqyu l-ʕaẓm, مُخُّ ٱلْعَظْم muḵḵu l-ʕaẓm, نِقْي niqy, كُوسَا kūsā
- marrow in Indonesian
- Sum sum tulang
- marrow in Persian
- مغز maghz
- marrow in Thai
- ไขกระดูก kǎi-grà-dùuk, ไขข้อ, แฟง fɛɛng
- marrow in Vietnamese
- tủy xương
Examples of marrow in a sentence
- John became the donee of the bone marrow donated by his brother.
- Lymphadenoid tissue includes the lymph glands, spleen, bone marrow, and tonsils, and the lymphatic tissue of the organs and mucous membranes.
- I was chilled to the marrow (of my bones).
Synonyms of marrow
19 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of marrow
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | marrows |
| alternative form | marra |
| Proper noun | |
| plural | Marrows |
Origin of marrow
From Middle English mary, marow, marwe, marowȝ, from Old English mearg, from Proto-West Germanic *maʀg, from Proto-Germanic *mazgą, *mazgaz, from Proto-Indo-European *mosgʰos. Compare West Frisian moarch, Dutch merg, German Mark, Swedish märg, Icelandic mergur, and also Russian мозг (mozg, “brain”), Polish mózg (“brain”), Ashkun amōźã, Kamkata-viri muč, muj, Waigali muj, Persian مغز (maġz, “brain”), Sanskrit मज्जन् (majján). Doublet of maghaz.
From Old Norse margr.
Words formed from marrow
Phrases with marrow
Words that rhyme with marrow
Questions about marrow
- What does marrow mean?
- Marrow means the substance inside bones which produces blood cells.
- What is marrow in Hindi?
- Marrow in Hindi is अस्थि मज्जा (asthi majjā), मज्जा (majjā), गूदा (gūdā). See Marrow meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is marrow?
- Marrow can be a noun or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce marrow?
- Marrow is pronounced /ˈmæɹəʊ/ (UK).
- What is the plural of marrow?
- The plural of marrow is marrows.
Words near marrow in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: marrow (page history and authors); Marrow (page history and authors); marrow (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); marrow (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); మూలగ (Telugu) (page history and authors); marrow (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); marrow (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); මේදය (Sinhala) (page history and authors); marrow (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-marrow.wav.
Cite this entry: “marrow.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/marrow. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.