Cambridge Dictionaries online Cambridge Dictionaries online

The most popular online dictionary and thesaurus for learners of English

  

bow to sb/sth

phrasal verb with bow
 
 
/baʊ/ verb [I or T]

Definition

to do what someone else wants you to do, usually unwillingly: Eventually the government was forced to bow to public pressure and reform the tax.Accepting and agreeing reluctantlyAccepting and agreeingApproving and approval
(Definition of bow to sb/sth from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

Browse related topics

You are looking at an entry to do with Accepting & agreeing reluctantly, but you might be interested in these topics from the Expressing agreement & support topic area:

Word of the Day

throw sb together

If two people are thrown together, they meet each other in a way that was not planned, or events...

Word of the Day

Blog

Read our blog about how the English language behaves.

Learn More

New Words

Find words and meanings that have just started to be used in English, and let us know what you think of them.

Learn More