row

Etymology 1

From Middle English rewe, rowe, rawe, from Old English rǣw, rāw, probably from Proto-Germanic *raiwō, *raigwō, *raih- (“row, streak, line”), from Proto-Indo-European *reyk- (“to carve, scratch, etch”). Cognate with Scots raw (“row”), dialectal Norwegian rå (“boundary line”), Saterland Frisian Riege (“row”), West Frisian rige (“row”), Dutch rij (“row, line”), German Low German Reeg, Riege, Rieg (“row”), German Reihe (“row”), German Riege (“sports team”).

noun

1. A line of objects, often regularly spaced, such as seats in a theatre, vegetable plants in a garden etc.
2. A horizontal line of entries in a table, etc., going from left to right, as opposed to a column going from top to bottom.
3. (slang, chiefly in the plural) Clipping of cornrow.
   If you thought it'd be hard to get a good cornrow braiding in Latvia, think again. Porzingis said he was re-braided almost every week to keep his rows fresh. 22 October 2015, Stefan Bondy, “Kristaps Porzingis had cornrows as a kid because 'all the girls loved it'”, in New York Daily News, New York, N.Y.: Daily News L.P., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-01-18

Etymology 2

From Middle English rowen (“to row”), from Old English rōwan (“to row”), from Proto-Germanic *rōaną (“to row”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁reh₁- (“to row”). Compare West Frisian roeie, Dutch roeien, Danish ro. More at rudder. Related to Russia.

verb

1. (transitive or intransitive, nautical) To propel (a boat or other craft) over water using oars.
2. (transitive) To transport in a boat propelled with oars.
   to row the captain ashore in his barge
3. (intransitive) To be moved by oars.
   The boat rows easily.

noun

1. An act or instance of rowing.
   I went for an early-morning row.
2. (weightlifting) An exercise performed with a pulling motion of the arms towards the back.

Etymology 3

Unclear; some suggest it is a back-formation from rouse, verb.

noun

1. A noisy argument.
   There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
   As a rule, you see, I'm not lugged into Family Rows. On the occasions when Aunt is calling to Aunt like mastodons bellowing across primeval swamps and Uncle James's letter about Cousin Mabel's peculiar behaviour is being shot round the family circle... the clan has a tendency to ignore me. 1923, P.G. Wodehouse, The Inimitable Jeeves
   ‘Then the father has a great fight with his terrible conscience,’ said Munday with granite seriousness. ‘Should he make a row with the police […]? Or should he say nothing about it and condone brutality for fear of appearing in the newspapers? 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 18, in The China Governess
   […]he wrote to me last week telling me about an incredible bitch of a row blazing there on account of someone having been and gone and produced an unofficial magazine called Raddled, full of obscene libellous Oz-like filth. And what I though, what Sammy and I thought, was—why not? 1991, Stephen Fry, The Liar, page 27
2. A continual loud noise.
   Who's making that row?

verb

1. (intransitive) To argue noisily.