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Meanings of kotow in English

Try to gain favor by cringing or flattering.

A former Chinese custom of touching the ground with the forehead as a sign of respect or submission.

Usage of kotow in English
1
It was the elder one to whom the world kotow-ed.
Memoir and Letters of Francis W. Newman
2
The smile returned to her face, and her body bent in a kind of kotow.
Parrot & Co.
3
Even in the midst of a mess like this we'll have to kotow to his rank or he'll probably be reporting us.
The U-boat hunters
4
I believe if you asked me to do the Chinese kotow, and bend to the earth before you, I'd secretly be dying to do it.
The Militants / Stories of Some Parsons, Soldiers, and Other Fig...
5
Later we ladies were invited into the room, where the Chinese all kotowed.
Court Life in China: The Capital, Its Officials and People
6
The boy kotowed, and Elsa gave him a sovereign.
Parrot & Co.
7
Kotow; pour our millions into the bottomless purses of spendthrifts; give them our most beautiful women.
The Voice in the Fog
8
Now, nobody ever kotows to us at home.
A Gentleman's Gentleman / 1909
9
Kathlyn was there, somewhere among these kotowing women; but there was nothing by which he could recognize her.
The Adventures of Kathlyn
10
Yes; but the curse of a priest who believes in different gods, who kotows before a painted idol!
The Adventures of Kathlyn
11
How the fools kotowed and simpered while I looked over their jewels and speculated upon how much I could get for them!
The Voice in the Fog
12
The great gates were thrown open and there in the gateway the female members of the family knelt and kotowed as the chair passed by.
Court Life in China: The Capital, Its Officials and People
13
"I can't see why I should kotow to him, or what further harm he can do," said the candidate, but he deferred to Bowers's judgment.
The Henchman
Frequent collocations
Kotow through the time