'Kowtow' definitions:
Definition of 'kowtow'
(from WordNet)
noun
A former Chinese custom of touching the ground with the forehead as a sign of respect or submission [syn: kowtow, kotow]
verb
verb
Definition of 'Kowtow'
From: GCIDE
- Kowtow \Kow*tow"\, n. [Chinese, knock head.] The prostration made by mandarins and others to their superiors, either as homage or worship, by knocking the forehead on the ground; same as Kotow. There are degrees in the rite, the highest being expressed by three knockings. [China] [Also spelled kotow.] --S. W. Williams. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'Kowtow'
From: GCIDE
Definition of 'kowtow'
From: GCIDE
- Kotow \Ko*tow"\, n. [Chinese, knock head.] Same as kowtow, the more common spellings. [China] [Also spelled kowtow.] --S. W. Williams. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'kowtow'
From: GCIDE
Synonyms of 'kowtow'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- apple-polish,
- bend,
- bend the knee,
- bend the neck,
- bend to,
- bending the knee,
- bob,
- bob a curtsy,
- bob down,
- bootlick,
- bow,
- bow and scrape,
- bow down,
- bow the head,
- bow to,
- bowing and scraping,
- brown-nose,
- butter up,
- cower,
- crawl,
- creep,
- cringe,
- cringe to,
- crouch,
- crouch before,
- curtsy,
- dance attendance on,
- dipping the colors,
- do homage,
- do obeisance,
- duck,
- fall down before,
- fawn,
- flatter,
- genuflect,
- genuflection,
- grovel,
- homage,
- inclination,
- kneel,
- kneel to,
- kneeling,
- knuckle to,
- lick the dust,
- lickspittle,
- make a leg,
- make a reverence,
- make obeisance,
- making a leg,
- nod,
- obeisance,
- obsequiousness,
- pander to,
- pay court to,
- play up to,
- presenting arms,
- prostration,
- reverence,
- salaam,
- salutation,
- salute,
- scrape,
- servility,
- shine up to,
- squat,
- standing at attention,
- stoop,
- submission,
- submissiveness,
- suck up to,
- supination,
- toadeat,
- toady,
- truckle,
- truckle to