bow up
Puff up ready to fight — chest out, temper hot, heels dug in.
Also called bowed up.
Updated September 21, 2026
bow up pronunciation
/BOW up/
Meaning
Means you get confrontational or stubborn. Picture a man throwing his shoulders back, or a banty rooster fluffing up. Dictionary of American Regional English frames it as asserting yourself or standing up to somebody, and labels it Southern. Folks also say somebody bowed up and quit talking, or a car bowed up in the road and stopped cold. Tone and context tell you angry fight versus sudden halt.
How folks use it
- “Don't bow up at the referee over one call.”
- “He bowed up like a banty rooster when somebody touched his toolbox.”
Origin and etymology
Rural Southern image talk. Animals arch or puff when threatened, and men do a version with the chest. Grammar Girl mapped hearers across the South after DARE called bow up Southern for asserting oneself. Blind Pig and The Acorn readers from Appalachia and Georgia report the fight-ready sense and a separate jam-up sense for vehicles that stop short.
Frequently asked questions
Can bow up mean something besides getting mad?
Yes. In some mountain talk a driver bows up when they slam on the brakes mid-road. Listen for whether a person or a vehicle is in the sentence.