furrow

Etymology

From Middle English furgh, forow, from Old English furh, from Proto-West Germanic *furh, from Proto-Germanic *furhs (compare Saterland Frisian Fuurge, Dutch voor, German Furche, Swedish fåra, Norwegian Bokmål fure), from Proto-Indo-European *perḱ- (“to dig”). Compare Welsh rhych (“furrow”), Latin porca (“ridge, balk”), Lithuanian prapar̃šas (“ditch”), Sanskrit पर्शान (párśāna, “chasm”).

noun

1. A trench cut in the soil, as when plowed in order to plant a crop.
   Don't walk across that deep furrow in the field.
2. Any trench, channel, or groove, as in wood or metal.
3. A deep wrinkle in the skin of the face, especially on the forehead.
   When she was tired, a deep furrow appeared on her forehead.

verb

1. (transitive) To cut one or more grooves in (the ground, etc.).
   Cart wheels can furrow roads.
2. (transitive) To wrinkle.
3. (transitive) To pull one's brows or eyebrows together due to concentration, worry, etc.
   As she read the document intently her brows began to furrow.
4. (intransitive) to become furrowed
   If you were bold enough to ask Antonin Scalia questions, you had to be precise. Otherwise the bushy black brows would furrow, the chin would crumple and the pudgy, puckish body would start to rock, eager to get at you. 20 February 2016, “Obituary: Antonin Scalia: Always Right”, in The Economist