sower

noun

sow·​er ˈsō(-ə)r 

plural sowers

: someone or something that sows: such as

a

: a person who plants seed

A sower looking forward to seed catalogues might be glad this Christmas to be given a dibble.

—The New Yorker

b

: a machine or tool for planting seed

… fuel costs for agricultural machinery such as tractors and sowers and harvesters …

—Jared Diamond

Finally, with the dark moon in place, the fields cut and fertilizer spread, our son Clark and I used a hand-crank seed sower to spread the seed mixture …

—Philip Case

c

: a person or thing that promotes the spread of something (such as fear or doubt)

Readers of Dante will recall that, in the Inferno, a special slice of hell is reserved for the sowers of discord—schismatics who tried to advance themselves by dividing institutions.

—James Poulos

It's good to know this particular Saturday Night Live sketch was cut for time and not vetoed, because Will Ferrell playing a sower of chaos in the form of a high school drama teacher is pure magic.

—Nick Romano

Examples of sower in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Biden described Trump as a sower of discord — only to preside over an America coming apart. —Matthew Continetti, National Review, 4 May 2024

The Trump administration’s top goal in the Middle East is clear: counter Iran, which U.S. President Donald Trump and his senior officials have denounced as a duplicitous and murderous state sponsor of terrorism and sower of regional chaos. —Daniel Byman, Foreign Affairs, 26 July 2018

Was Joe simply a sower of doubt, a creator of chaos? —Michael Ordoña, Los Angeles Times, 15 Oct. 2021

The parable of the sower and the investing of talents sound like capitalist increase, but the gains are about doing things that please God, not personal wealth. —WSJ, 26 Oct. 2022

The nation is in the final stages of preparing to replace a liar and sower of division with someone who seems far more suited to leadership — who has pledged to adhere to the norms embedded in a less hypocritical national script. —Washington Post, 15 Jan. 2021

The chaos sower is his insane brother (Salvatore Esposito), just over from Italy. —Robert Lloyd, chicagotribune.com, 25 Sep. 2020

Word History

Etymology

Middle English sower, sawere, from Old English sāwere, from sāwan "to sow entry 2" + -ere -er entry 2

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above