Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A head of white-blond hair resembling tow.
- noun A person with such hair.
- noun A sandbar or low-lying alluvial island in a river, especially one with a stand of trees.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
blond person whose very pale, almostwhite hair resemblestow . - noun An
alluvial deposit in a river, such as asandbar , or a small island formed fromsilt , often permanent enough to have vegetation.
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The towhead was a rattling big distance off, away out there in the middle of the river, but I didn't lose no time; and when I struck the raft at last I was so fagged I would a just laid down to blow and gasp if I could afforded it.
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The towhead was a rattling big distance off, away out there in the middle of the river, but I didn't lose no time; and when I struck the raft at last I was so fagged I would a just laid down to blow and gasp if I could afforded it.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain 1872
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The towhead was a rattling big distance off, away out there in the middle of the river, but I didn't lose no time; and when I struck the raft at last I was so fagged I would a just laid down to blow and gasp if I could afforded it.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Chapters 26 to 30 Mark Twain 1872
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The watchman shot out of the place again; Ealer seized the wheel, set an engine back with power, and held his breath while the boat reluctantly swung away from a 'towhead' which she was about to knock into the middle of the Gulf of Mexico!
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The towhead was a rattling big distance off, away out there in the middle of the river, but I didn’t lose no time; and when I struck the raft at last I was so fagged I would a just laid down to blow and gasp if I could afforded it.
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'towhead' which she was about to knock into the middle of the Gulf of
Life on the Mississippi, Part 3. Mark Twain 1872
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a 'towhead' which she was about to knock into the middle of the Gulf of
Life on the Mississippi Mark Twain 1872
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The boy, Theo, was a tall lanky towhead one year older than Alice.
So Much Pretty Cara Hoffman 2011
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His eyes are the spitting image of Jack's and, except for the fact he is a towhead, his resemblance to his famous great grandfather is striking.
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The boy, Theo, was a tall lanky towhead one year older than Alice.
So Much Pretty Cara Hoffman 2011
betsyshane commented on the word towhead
I love that you and I are the only ones to list this word, tow.
December 7, 2006
bilby commented on the word towhead
Never heard it.
September 8, 2008
rolig commented on the word towhead
I heard this word a fair bit growing up in the 1960s. I had a friend with pale yellow hair who was frequently described as towheaded, especially by older folks like my grandmother. So I expect this word was more common in the first half of the 20th century and eventually gave way to the sexier, more fashionable "platinum blonde". I can't imagine Marilyn Monroe or Brigitte Bardot (were they all bilabially alliterative?) ever being described as "towheads".
September 8, 2008
bilby commented on the word towhead
How about Pamela Anderson?
September 8, 2008
rolig commented on the word towhead
No, she's not bilabially alliterative. But then she's not really a platinum blonde, either. A true towhead has hair that is more white than yellow.
September 8, 2008
chained_bear commented on the word towhead
I hear it today, but it almost always is in reference to a child or young person. I've actually never heard it in reference to anyone over 18, or even 14 for that matter.
September 8, 2008
bilby commented on the word towhead
Ah. Daisy Duck then ;-)
September 8, 2008
rolig commented on the word towhead
You're right, c_b. I think I have usually encountered this word, in its adjectival form, in the phrase "towheaded children," often in some context that implies bucolic innocence. I don't expect anyone would say, "The towheaded youth was sniffing glue under the bridge."
September 8, 2008
chained_bear commented on the word towhead
Ha ha ha!! Great sentence!
I think you're right about the bucolic innocence. That's definitely been the connotation whenever I've seen the word (which isn't often, but often enough that I don't think it's completely obsolete).
September 9, 2008
johnmperry commented on the word towhead
He was tall, slim-hipped, hairlessly muscled in the chest and back. towheaded and perpetually bronzed as those of Norwegian extraction can be.
September 16, 2008