To cause intense distress, anguish, or torment to someone's soul or feelings (literary/archaic).
To deeply and painfully disturb someone's mind or feelings.
One main meaning — here's how to use it.
To cause extreme horror, anguish, or distress to a person's soul or mind (used in literary or dramatic contexts).
"The harrowing details of the account harrowed up every person in the room."
I could a tale unfold whose lightest word / Would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood.
— William Shakespeare, 'Hamlet', Act 1, Scene 5 (Ghost speaking to Hamlet)
A harrow is a farm tool used to break up and rake the soil — 'harrow up' literally means to tear through something violently.
To deeply and painfully disturb someone's mind or feelings.
Almost entirely literary and archaic. Best known from Shakespeare's Hamlet. A harrow is a spiked farming tool that tears up the soil; the image is of one's soul being torn apart. Virtually never used in modern everyday speech.
Natural word combinations native speakers use most often.
The five tense forms you'll use most often.
Listen to native speakers using "harrow up" in real YouTube videos — click a clip to watch it on Looplines.
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