bow and scrape
/ˌbaʊ ən ˈskɹeɪp/
"bow-and-scrape" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“bow and scrape” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 14
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To make a deep bow with the right leg drawn back (thus scraping the floor), left hand pressed across the abdomen, right arm held aside.
Corpus desk
Index EN-bow-and-scrape · bow and scrape · English
bow and scrape · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 14 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "B" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | bow and scrape |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˌbaʊ ən ˈskɹeɪp/ |
| Letters | 14 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “bow and scrape” in English
Rare enough to double-check
bow and scrape is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed /ˌbaʊ ən ˈskɹeɪp/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
bow and scrape doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct English form is bow and scrape, spelled B-O-W- -A-N-D- -S-C-R-A-P-E.
Definition
- 1To make a deep bow with the right leg drawn back (thus scraping the floor), left hand pressed across the abdomen, right arm held aside.
- 2To behave in a servile, obsequious, or excessively polite manner.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how bow and scrape appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
But he is not one of those lawyers who bow and scrape before wealthy clients. He will not be pushed around.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.