harrow

Harrow is an agricultural implement used to prepare the seedbed by breaking up clods, leveling the soil surface, and incorporating crop residues. It is pulled over fields by draft animals or tractors and features a frame fitted with tines, chains, or discs. Types include spike harrows (with teeth), chain harrows (linked bars), and disc harrows (cutting blades). Harrowing loosens and smooths the soil, helps control surface weeds, and creates a more uniform seedbed, improving conditions for planting and germination.

Harrow may also refer to place names. In England, the London Borough of Harrow encompasses Harrow on the Hill, and is home to Harrow School, a historic boarding school founded in 1572. Internationally, Harrow is the name of towns in Ontario, Canada, and Victoria, Australia, among others.

As a verb, harrow means to cause distress or to torment; in farming, to harrow is to draw the implement across land to perform the actions described above. The term appears in phrases such as harrowing experience, describing something distressing.