CLAW
claw
(noun) a bird’s foot
claw
(noun) sharp curved horny process on the toe of a bird or some mammals or reptiles
claw, chela, nipper, pincer
(noun) a grasping structure on the limb of a crustacean or other arthropods
hook, claw
(noun) a mechanical device that is curved or bent to suspend or hold or pull something
claw
(verb) attack as if with claws; “The politician clawed his rival”
claw
(verb) clutch as if in panic; “She clawed the doorknob”
claw
(verb) scratch, scrape, pull, or dig with claws or nails
claw
(verb) move as if by clawing, seizing, or digging; “They clawed their way to the top of the mountain”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology 1
Noun
claw (plural claws)
A curved, pointed horny nail on each digit of the foot of a mammal, reptile, or bird.
A foot equipped with such.
The pincer (chela) of a crustacean or other arthropod.
A mechanical device resembling a claw, used for gripping or lifting.
(botany) A slender appendage or process, formed like a claw, such as the base of petals of the pink.
(juggling) The act of catching a ball overhand.
Etymology 2
Verb
claw (third-person singular simple present claws, present participle clawing, simple past and past participle clawed)
To scratch or to tear at.
To use the claws to seize, to grip.
To use the claws to climb.
(juggling) To perform a claw catch.
To move with one's fingertips.
(obsolete) To relieve uneasy feeling, such as an itch, by scratching; hence, to humor or flatter, to court someone.
(obsolete) To rail at; to scold.
(figurative, transitive, dated) To flatter; to fawn on (a person).
Anagrams
• cawl
Source: Wiktionary
Claw, n. Etym: [AS. clawu, cla, cleó; akin to D. klaauw, G. Klaue,
Icel. klo, SW. & Dan. klo, and perh. to E. clew.]
1. A sharp, hooked nail, as of a beast or bird.
2. The whole foot of an animal armed with hooked nails; the pinchers
of a lobster, crab, etc.
3. Anything resembling the claw of an animal, as the curved and
forked end of a hammer for drawing nails.
4. (Bot.)
Definition: A slender appendage or process, formed like a claw, as the base
of petals of the pink. Gray. Claw hammer, a hammer with one end of
the metallic head cleft for use in extracting nails, etc.
– Claw hammer coat, a dress coat of the swallowtail pattern.
[Slang] -- Claw sickness, foot rot, a disease affecting sheep.
Claw, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Clawed; p. pr. & vb. n. Clawing.] Etym:
[AS. clawan. See Claw, n.]
1. To pull, tear, or scratch with, or as with, claws or nails.
2. To relieve from some uneasy sensation, as by scratching; to
tickle; hence, to flatter; to court. [Obs.]
Rich men they claw, soothe up, and flatter; the poor they contemn and
despise. Holland.
3. To rail at; to scold. [Obs.]
In the aforesaid preamble, the king fairly claweth the great
monasteries, wherein, saith he, religion, thanks be to God, is right
well kept and observed; though he claweth them soon after in another
acceptation. T. Fuller
Claw me, claw thee, stand by me and I will stand by you; -- an old
proverb. Tyndale. To claw away, to scold or revile. "The jade Fortune
is to be clawed away for it, if you should lose it." L'Estrange. To
claw (one) on the back, to tickle; to express approbation. (Obs.)
Chaucer.
– To claw (one) on the gall, to find falt with; to vex. [Obs.]
Chaucer.
Claw, v. i.
Definition: To scrape, scratch, or dig with a claw, or with the hand as a
claw. "Clawing [in ash barrels] for bits of coal." W. D. Howells. To
claw off (Naut.), to turn to windward and beat, to prevent falling on
a lee shore.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition