Tow-head noun
1. An urchin who has soft, whitish hair. [ Colloq.]

2. (Zoology) The hooded merganser. [ Local, U. S. ]

Tow-head noun A low alluvial island or shoal in a river. [ Local, U. S.]

Toward adjective [ Anglo-Saxon .... See Toward , preposition ]
1. Approaching; coming near. "His toward peril." Spenser.

2. Readly to do or learn; compliant with duty; not froward; apt; docile; tractable; as, a toward youth.

3. Ready to act; forward; bold; valiant.

Why, that is spoken like a toward prince.

Shak.

Toward, Towards preposition [ Anglo-Saxon ... impending, imminent, future, toward, ... towards. See To , and - ward , wards .]
1. In the direction of; to.

He set his face toward the wilderness.

Num. xxiv. 1.

The waves make towards \'b6 the pebbled shore.

Shak.

2. With direction to, in a moral sense; with respect or reference to; regarding; concerning.

His eye shall be evil toward his brother.

Deut. xxviii. 54.

Herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offense toward God, and toward men.

Acts xxiv. 16.

3. Tending to; in the direction of; in behalf of.

This was the first alarm England received towards any trouble.

Clarendom.

4. Near; about; approaching to.

I am toward nine years older since I left you.

Swift.

Toward, Towards adverb Near; at hand; in state of preparation.

Do you hear sught, sir, of a battle toward ?

Shak.

We have a trifling foolish banquet Towards .

Shak.

Towardliness noun The quality or state of being towardly; docility; tractableness.

The beauty and towardliness of these children moved her brethren to envy.

Sir W. Raleigh.

Towardly adjective Same as Toward , adjective , 2.

He's towardly and will come on apace.

Dryden.

Towardness noun Quality or state of being toward.

Towards preposition & adverb See Toward .

Towboat noun
1. A vessel constructed for being towed, as a canal boat.

2. A steamer used for towing other vessels; a tug.

Towel noun [ Middle English towaille , towail , French touaille , Late Latin toacula , of Teutonic origin; confer Old High German dwahila , swahilla , German zwehle , from Old High German dwahan to wash; akin to Dutch dwaal a towel, Anglo-Saxon þweán to wash, Old Saxon thwahan , Icelandic þvā , Swedish två , Danish toe , Goth. þwahan . Confer Doily .] A cloth used for wiping, especially one used for drying anything wet, as the person after a bath.

Towel gourd (Botany) , the fruit of the cucurbitaceous plant Luffa Ægyptiaca ; also, the plant itself. The fruit is very fibrous, and, when separated from its rind and seeds, is used as a sponge or towel. Called also Egyptian bath sponge , and dishcloth .

Towel transitive verb To beat with a stick. [ Prov. Eng.]

Toweling noun Cloth for towels, especially such as is woven in long pieces to be cut at will, as distinguished from that woven in towel lengths with borders, etc. [ Written also towelling .]

Tower noun [ Middle English tour , tor , tur , French tour , Latin turris ; akin to Greek ...; confer W. twr a tower, Ir. tor a castle, Gael. torr a tower, castle. Confer Tor , Turret .]
1. (Architecture) (a) A mass of building standing alone and insulated, usually higher than its diameter, but when of great size not always of that proportion. (b) A projection from a line of wall, as a fortification, for purposes of defense, as a flanker, either or the same height as the curtain wall or higher. (c) A structure appended to a larger edifice for a special purpose, as for a belfry, and then usually high in proportion to its width and to the height of the rest of the edifice; as, a church tower .

2. A citadel; a fortress; hence, a defense.

Thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy.

Ps. lxi. 3.

3. A headdress of a high or towerlike form, fashionable about the end of the seventeenth century and until 1715; also, any high headdress.

Lay trains of amorous intrigues
In towers , and curls, and periwigs.

Hudibras.

4. High flight; elevation. [ Obsolete] Johnson.

Gay Lussac's tower (Chemistry) , a large tower or chamber used in the sulphuric acid process, to absorb (by means of concentrated acid) the spent nitrous fumes that they may be returned to the Glover's tower to be reemployed. See Sulphuric acid , under Sulphuric , and Glover's tower , below. -- Glover's tower (Chemistry) , a large tower or chamber used in the manufacture of sulphuric acid, to condense the crude acid and to deliver concentrated acid charged with nitrous fumes. These fumes, as a catalytic, effect the conversion of sulphurous to sulphuric acid. See Sulphuric acid , under Sulphuric , and Gay Lussac's tower , above. -- Round tower . See under Round , adjective -- Shot tower . See under Shot . -- Tower bastion (Fort.) , a bastion of masonry, often with chambers beneath, built at an angle of the interior polygon of some works. -- Tower mustard (Botany) , the cruciferous plant Arabis perfoliata . -- Tower of London , a collection of buildings in the eastern part of London, formerly containing a state prison, and now used as an arsenal and repository of various objects of public interest.

Tower intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle towered ; present participle & verbal noun towering .] To rise and overtop other objects; to be lofty or very high; hence, to soar.

On the other side an high rock towered still.

Spenser.

My lord protector's hawks do tower so well.

Shak.

Tower transitive verb To soar into. [ Obsolete] Milton.

Towered adjective Adorned or defended by towers.

Towered cities please us then.

Milton.

Towering adjective
1. Very high; elevated; rising aloft; as, a towering height. Pope.

2. Hence, extreme; violent; surpassing.

A man agitated by a towering passion.

Sir W. Scott.

Towery adjective Having towers; adorned or defended by towers. [ R.] " Towery cities ." Pope.

Towhee noun (Zoology) The chewink.

Towilly noun (Zoology) The sanderling; -- so called from its cry. [ Prov. Eng.]

Towline noun [ Anglo-Saxon tohline . See Tow , transitive verb , and Line . ] (Nautical) A line used to tow vessels; a towrope.

Town noun [ Middle English toun , tun , Anglo-Saxon tun inclosure, fence, village, town; akin to Dutch tuin a garden, German zaun a hadge, fence, Old High German zun , Icelandic tun an inclosure, homestead, house, Ir. & Gael. dun a fortress, W. din . Confer Down , adverb & preposition , Dune , tine to inclose.]
1. Formerly: (a) An inclosure which surrounded the mere homestead or dwelling of the lord of the manor. [ Obsolete] (b) The whole of the land which constituted the domain. [ Obsolete] (c) A collection of houses inclosed by fences or walls. [ Obsolete] Palsgrave.

2. Any number or collection of houses to which belongs a regular market, and which is not a city or the see of a bishop. [ Eng.] Johnson.

3. Any collection of houses larger than a village, and not incorporated as a city; also, loosely, any large, closely populated place, whether incorporated or not, in distinction from the country, or from rural communities.

God made the country, and man made the town .

Cowper.

4. The body of inhabitants resident in a town; as, the town voted to send two representatives to the legislature; the town voted to lay a tax for repairing the highways.

5. A township; the whole territory within certain limits, less than those of a country. [ U. S.]

6. The court end of London;-- commonly with the .

7. The metropolis or its inhabitants; as, in winter the gentleman lives in town ; in summer, in the country.

Always hankering after the diversions of the town .

Addison.

Stunned with his giddy larum half the town .

Pope.

» The same form of expressions is used in regard to other populous towns.

8. A farm or farmstead; also, a court or farmyard. [ Prov. Eng. & Scot.]

» Town is often used adjectively or in combination with other words; as, town clerk, or town -clerk; town - crier, or town crier; town hall, town -hall, or town hall; town house, town house, or town - house.

Syn. -- Village; hamlet. See Village .

Town clerk , an office who keeps the records of a town, and enters its official proceedings. See Clerk . -- Town cress (Botany) , the garden cress, or peppergrass. Dr. Prior. -- Town house . (a) A house in town, in distinction from a house in the country. (b) See Townhouse . -- Town meeting , a legal meeting of the inhabitants of a town entitled to vote, for the transaction of public bisiness. [ U. S.] -- Town talk , the common talk of a place; the subject or topic of common conversation.

Town-crier noun A town officer who makes proclamations to the people; the public crier of a town.

Towned adjective Having towns; containing many towns. [ Obsolete] Hakluyt.

Townhall noun A public hall or building, belonging to a town, where the public offices are established, the town council meets, the people assemble in town meeting, etc.

Townhouse noun A building devoted to the public used of a town; a townhall.

Townish adjective Of or pertaining to the inhabitants of a town; like the town. [ R.] Turbervile.

Townless adjective Having no town. Howell.

Townlet noun A small town. North Brit. Rev.

Townsfolk noun The people of a town; especially, the inhabitants of a city, in distinction from country people; townspeople.

Township noun
1. The district or territory of a town.

» In the United States, many of the States are divided into townships of five, six, seven, or perhaps ten miles square, and the inhabitants of such townships are invested with certain powers for regulating their own affairs, such as repairing roads and providing for the poor. The township is subordinate to the county.

2. In surveys of the public land of the United States, a division of territory six miles square, containing 36 sections.

3. In Canada, one of the subdivisions of a county.

Townsman (tounz"m a n) noun ; plural Townsmen (-m&et;n).

1. An inhabitant of a town; one of the same town with another. Pope.

2. A selectman, in New England. See Selectman .

Townspeople noun The inhabitants of a town or city, especially in distinction from country people; townsfolk.

Townward, Townwards , adverb Toward a town. Longfellow.

Towpath noun A path traveled by men or animals in towing boats; -- called also towing path .

Towrope noun A rope used in towing vessels.

Towser (tou"zẽr) noun [ See Touse to pull about. ] A familiar name for a dog. [ Written also Towzer . ]

Towy (tō"ȳ) adjective Composed of, or like, tow.

Toxalbumin noun [ See Toxic ; Albumin .] (Physiol. Chem.) Any of a class of toxic substances of protein nature; a toxin.

Toxic, Toxical adjective [ Latin toxicum poison, originally, a poison in which arrows were dipped, Greek toxiko`n (sc. ...) poison for smearing arrows with, from toxiko`s of or for the bow, from to`xon bow, arrow. Confer Intoxicate .] Of or pertaining to poison; poisonous; as, toxic medicines.

Toxicant noun A poisonous agent or drug, as opium; an intoxicant.

Toxication noun [ Latin toxicum a poison: confer toxicatus smeared with poison.] Poisoning.

Toxicity noun The quality or state of being toxic or poisonous; poisonousness.

Toxicogenic adjective [ See Toxic , and -genic .] (Physiol. & Med.) Producing toxic products; as, toxicogenic germs or bacteria.

Toxicological adjective [ Confer F. toxicologique . ] Of or pertaining to toxicology. -- Tox`i*co*log"ic*al*ly , adverb

Toxicologist noun One versed in toxicology; the writer of a treatise on poisons.

Toxicology noun [ Greek toxiko`n poison + -logy ; confer French toxicologie . See Toxic . ] The science which treats of poisons, their effects, antidotes, and recognition; also, a discourse or treatise on the science.

Toxicomania noun [ See. Toxic , and Mania .]
1. (Medicine) Toxiphobia. A. S. Taylor.

2. (Medicine) An insane desire for intoxicating or poisonous drugs, as alcohol or opium. B. W. Richardson.

Toxæmia (tŏks"ē"mĭ*ȧ) adjective [ New Latin , from Greek toxiko`n poison + a"i^ma blood.] (Medicine) Blood poisoning. See under Blood .