Word.ws English Dictionary

Past tense of tow

regular verb

The past tense of tow is towed. The past participle is also towed.

Forms of tow

Base form (V1)tow /təʊ/
Past tense (V2)towed /toʊd/
Past participle (V3)towed /toʊd/
Present participletowing
Third person singulartows /təʊz/

Towed in a sentence

  • In its current specification it cannot be driven and must be towed to its work location by a locomotive.2022 September 7, “At the cutting edge of NR's track work”, in RAIL, number 965, page 40, photo caption
  • The ship ran aground and had to be towed back out to sea.From the entry run aground
  • The misparked vehicle was towed away.From the entry misparked
  • Throughout his toddlerhood Charlie dragged it along like Linus in Peanuts; towed it through muddy farmyards and chewing-gummy streets.2012, Charity Norman, After the Fall, London: Allen & Unwin, published 2013, →ISBN, page 47. From the entry chewing-gummy
  • After being towed into a massive slab, Dorian dropped down the face and caught a rail, putting him in a near-impossible situation.2009, Bruce Boal, The Surfing Yearbook, SurfersVillage, page 31. From the entry slab

Meaning of tow

  1. verb To pull something behind one, such as by using a line, chain, or tongue.
  2. verb To aid someone behind by shielding them from wind resistance.
  3. noun The act of towing and the condition of being towed.

Full definition of tow

Questions about the past tense of tow

What is the past tense of tow?
The past tense of tow is towed.
What is the past participle of tow?
The past participle of tow is towed.
Is tow a regular or irregular verb?
Tow is a regular verb: its past tense adds -ed.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: tow (page history and authors) and the entries of its forms. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws left out forms marked obsolete, archaic, rare or dialectal and added the examples. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “Past tense of tow.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/past-tense/tow. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.