A mower is a machine designed to cut grass evenly and efficiently. The most common type is the lawn mower, which people push or ride across their yards to keep grass at a neat, uniform height. Lawn mowers have spinning blades underneath that slice through grass stems as the machine moves forward.

Before mowers existed, people cut grass with hand tools called scythes, swinging them back and forth in sweeping motions. It took hours to trim even a small area. The invention of the mechanical mower in the 1830s transformed lawn care, making it possible for ordinary families to maintain tidy yards without exhausting labor.

Modern mowers come in several varieties. Push mowers require you to walk behind them and provide the forward motion. Riding mowers let you sit on top and steer, which is useful for large properties. Some people still use reel mowers, which have no engine and work purely through pushing, with cylindrical blades that spin and snip the grass cleanly.

Farmers also use mowers, though theirs are much larger and designed to cut hay or other crops in fields. These agricultural mowers can cover dozens of acres, making manageable work that would otherwise take weeks by hand.