English Dictionary

kowtow

IPA（発音記号）

/ˈkaʊˌtaʊ/

動詞

比喩的用法 自動詞 歴史的 広義

(intransitive, figuratively) To grovel, act in a very submissive manner. / (intransitive, historical) To kneel and bow low enough to touch one’s forehead to the ground.

日本語の意味

比喩的な意味：極度にへりくだり、従順な態度を示すこと。 / 歴史的な意味：ひざまずき、額が地面に触れるほど深く頭を下げる行為。

I refuse to kowtow to unreasonable demands from my boss.

私は理不尽な上司の要求にへつらうのを拒否する。

意味（1）

(intransitive, figuratively) To grovel, act in a very submissive manner.

The letter to Razin contained another thought that preoccupied Stalin in the first months after the war: the need to avoid “kowtowing to the West,” including showing “unwarranted respect” for the “military authorities of Germany.”

意味（2）

(intransitive, historical) To kneel and bow low enough to touch one’s forehead to the ground.

When the weather turned cold, the tears that he shed would become frozen like veins; the blood on his forehead from kowtowing would also freeze and would not drip.

意味（3）

(intransitive) To bow very deeply.

意味（4）

(by extension) To bow to or show obeisance to.

kowtows （ present singular third-person ）

kowtowing （ participle present ）

kowtowed （ participle past ）

kowtowed （ past ）