bow down

• IPA^(key): /baʊ ˈdaʊn/

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bow down (third-person singular simple present bows down, present participle bowing down, simple past and past participle bowed down)

1. (intransitive, idiomatic) To bow, to bend oneself as a gesture of deference or respect.
   • c. 1921 (date written), Karel Čapek, translated by Paul Selver, R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots): A Fantastic Melodrama […], Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1923, →OCLC, Act 2:

     You were all so powerful, so overwhelming. The whole world bowed down before you.

   • 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Citadel:

     Shepard: The rest of the galaxy isn't just going to bow down just because we tell them to. We'll need the fleets to bring them in line.

• bow down before the porcelain god
• bowed-down

• down bow, downbow