in tow

(from Cambridge Dictionary of American English)
definition:

If someone is in tow, they are with someone else:

She arrived with her three children in tow.
___________________

my questions:

1. someone = they?
2. the three children's mother is someone else?
3. what's the diffenence if we say "She arrived with her three children" ,
without adding "in tow"?

thanks!

[Red5]

From Dictionary.com

tow1
tr.v. towed, tow·ing, tows
To draw or pull behind by a chain or line: a tugboat towing a barge. See Synonyms at pull.

n.

The act or an instance of towing.
The condition of being towed: a car with a trailer in tow.
Something, such as a tugboat, that tows.
Something, such as a barge or car, that is towed.
A rope or cable used in towing.

Idiom:
in tow
Under close guidance; in one's charge: The new student was taken in tow by a peer counselor.
As a companion or follower: came to dinner with a friend in tow.


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[Middle English towen, from Old English togian. See deuk- in Indo-European Roots.]
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towa·ble adj.
tower n.

Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

[AndrewJC]

Originally Posted by Anonymous

(from Cambridge Dictionary of American English)
definition:

If someone is in tow, they are with someone else:

She arrived with her three children in tow.
___________________

my questions:

1. someone = they?
2. the three children's mother is someone else?
3. what's the diffenence if we say "She arrived with her three children" ,
without adding "in tow"?

thanks!

When a woman (or anybody for that matter) arrives with her children in tow, it's meant to emphasize that the children are a bit of a burden. If you simply say she "arrived with her three children," it's just a statement of fact, but saying they're "in tow" adds an extra sense of its being a burden, as the mental image is one of tow lines between the woman and her children (ie. she has to pull them everywhere she goes).


It doesn't only apply to children, however. A man could arrive at a party with his wife (or vice versa) in tow, and that would have the same "burdensome" overtones that it has with children.

[MW]

Following closely behind and under the control, verbally or physically, of the person ahead