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# vow

«vow» in Mova's school dictionary: **a serious promise, often a solemn or religious one** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (a vow, vows); verb (vow, vows, vowed, vowing)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A vow is a serious promise, often a solemn or religious one. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/V/vow/#m1)

2) To vow is to promise firmly that you will do something. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/V/vow/#m2)

3) (church) Wedding vows are the promises a couple make when they marry; monks and nuns take vows to God. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/V/vow/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In stories, a hero vows to rescue a friend; in religious education monks and nuns take vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. At weddings the couple exchange vows. Phrases: «take a vow», «make a vow», «break a vow», «wedding vows», «vow to do something».

### examples

- The knight made a vow to protect the king. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/V/vow/#x1)
- She vowed never to tell the secret. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/V/vow/#x2)
- At the wedding they said their vows. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/V/vow/#x3)
- The monks took vows of silence. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/V/vow/#x4)
- I vowed to practise the piano every day. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/V/vow/#x5)
- Breaking a vow is a serious thing. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/V/vow/#x6)
- The friends vowed to stay in touch. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/V/vow/#x7)
- Indeed, I have made a vow never again to leave Bagdad." [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/V/vow/#x8)

### note

Noun and regular verb, past «vowed». Pronunciation rhymes with «now». Stronger and more solemn than an ordinary «promise». Do not confuse with «vowel» (a, e, i, o, u).

### In the corpora

- ["It is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfil it" (Ecclesiastes 5:5).](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/86-keeping-promises/10/)
- [I am the God of Beth-el, where thou didst anoint a pillar, where thou didst vow a vow unto Me.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/jps/GEN.946/)
- [And if a woman vowed in her husband's house, or bound her soul by a bond with an oath,](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/jps/NUM.1088/)
- [But if thou shalt forbear to vow, it shall be no sin in thee.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/jps/DEU.636/)
- [And the man Elkanah, and all his house, went up to offer unto the LORD the yearly sacrifice, and his vow.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/jps/1SA.21/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «vow» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/V/vow/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.