claw
/klɔ/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
cot caught merger/klɑ/
claw noun: a curved, pointed, horny projection on each digit of the foot of a mammal, reptile, or bird.
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Noun
claw (plural claws)
- A curved, pointed, horny projection on each digit of the foot of a mammal, reptile, or bird.
- Synonyms:
- fang
- 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.
- A human fingernail, particularly one extending well beyond the fingertip.
- A slender appendage or process, formed like a claw, such as the base of petals of the pink.
- a narrow base, as the petals of a Rose, where the claw is very short1857, Asa Gray, First Lessons in Botany and Vegetable Physiology
- The act of catching a ball overhand.
- A tree with one internal vertex and three leaves.
Verb
claw (third-person singular simple present claws, present participle clawing, simple past and past participle clawed)
- To scratch or to tear at.
- Using her hands like windshield wipers, she tried to flick snow away from her mouth. When she clawed at her chest and neck, the crumbs maddeningly slid back onto her face. She grew claustrophobic.2012, John Branch, “Snow Fall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek”, in New York Times
- To use the claws to seize, to grip.
- To use the claws to climb.
- To perform a claw catch.
- To move with one's fingertips.
- De Gea was United's hero again within seconds of Hernandez's equaliser, diving to his left to claw away Dirk Kuyt's shot as he got on the end of a superb cross from Stewart Downing.2011 October 15, Phil McNulty, “Liverpool 1 - 1 Man Utd”, in BBC Sport
- To relieve an uneasy feeling, such as an itch, by scratching (someone or something); hence (figuratively), to flatter or humour (someone); to court, to fawn on.
- I cannot hide what I am: I must be sad when I have cause, and smile at no man's jests; eat when I have stomach, and wait for no man's leisure; sleep when I am drowsy, and tend on no man's business; laugh when I am merry, and claw no man in his humour.1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
- To be ſhort, a wretched and curſed generation they be; hypocrites, pretending friendſhip, but they can not skill of plaine dealing and franke ſpeech. Rich men they claw, ſooth up and flatter: the poore they contemne and despiſe.1603, Plutarch, “Of the Nouriture and Education of Children”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Philosophie, Commonlie Called, The Morals […], London: […] Arnold Hatfield, →OCLC, page 15
- To rail at, revile, or scold (someone or something).
- 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.1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-history of Britain; […], London: […] Iohn Williams […], →OCLC, (please specify |book=I to XI)
- To do (something) quickly.
- Do'n't you remember, Sirrah, ſayes one, hovv vve clavv'd it avvay at ſuch a Place! Yes, ye Damn'd Rogue you, cryes t'other, vvhen you vvere ſo drunk you took your Aunt for the Bavvd.1667, Francisco de Quevedo Villegas, “The Sixth Vision of Hell”, in R[oger] L[’Estrange], transl., The Visions of Dom Francisco de Quevedo Villegas, […], London: […] H[enry] Herringman […], →OCLC...
Proper noun capitalized: Claw
Claw (plural Claws)
- A surname from Navajo.
claw meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
claw in Hindi
- curved horny nail
- पञ्जा pañjā, पंजा pañjā, खाँग khāṅg, नख nakh, चुंगल cuṅgal
- foot equipped with such
- पञ्जा pañjā, पंजा pañjā
- scratch or tear at
- नोचना nocnā
claw in Tamil
- பறவைகளின், விலங்கினங்களின் நகம்
claw in Marathi
- curved horny nail
- पंजा pañjā
claw in Urdu
- curved horny nail
- پَنْجہ panja
More languagesFewer languages
- claw in Bengali
- নখর nokhor, নখ nokh
- claw in Telugu
- గోరు gōru
- claw in Malayalam
- ഇര പിടിക്കുന്ന ജന്തുക്കളുടെ കാൽനഖം
- claw in Kannada
- ಪರಚು
- claw in Punjabi
- ਪਹੁੰਚਾ pahuñcā
- claw in Gujarati
- નખ nakh
- claw in Sanskrit
- नख nakha
- claw in Assamese
- নখ nokh
- claw in Nepali
- पन्जा panjā
- claw in Tagalog
- pangalmot
- claw in Arabic
- مِخْلَب miḵlab, بُرْثُن burṯun, كُلَّاب kullāb, كَلَّاب kallāb
- claw in Malay
- cakar
- claw in Indonesian
- cakar
- claw in Persian
- چَنْگال čangâl, چَنْگ čang, پَنْجِه panje, چَنْگَک čangak
- claw in Thai
- เล็บ lép, กรงเล็บ grong-lép, ก้าม gâam
- claw in Vietnamese
- móng, vuốt
- claw in Myanmar
- စွန်ကုပ် cwankup, လက်သည်း laksany:
Examples of claw in a sentence
- Once that bank gets its claws into you, it doesn't let go easily.
- Some turtles use their claw flutter as a means of communication, particularly in mating.
- That cat will always get its claws out when it sees a mouse.
Synonyms of claw
Forms of claw
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | claws |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | claws |
| present participle | clawing |
| past participle | clawed |
| past | clawed |
| Proper noun | |
| plural | Claws |
Origin of claw
From Middle English clawe, from Old English clawu, from Proto-Germanic *klawō. Compare West Frisian klau, Dutch klauw, German Klaue, Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish klo.
From Middle English clawen, from a combination of Old English clawan/clāwan (a remodelling of *clīeġan, from Proto-West Germanic *klauwjan, from Proto-Germanic *klawjaną) and Old English clawian (from Proto-West Germanic *klawēn).
Borrowed from Navajo Claw, variant of Clah.
Words formed from claw
- bear claw
- beclaw
- catclaw
- cat-claw
- cat's claw
- clawbed
- claw clip
- claw crane
- clawer
- clawfoot
- clawfooted
- claw frog
- clawful
- claw hammer
- claw-hammer coat
- clawhand
- clawless
- clawlike
- claw machine
- claw ring
- claw sickness
- clawsome
- claw toe
- claw tool
- clawy
- crab claw
- crab claw sail
- declaw
- Devil's claw
- dew claw
- foreclaw
- get one's claws into
- hind claw
- lobster claw
- longclaw
- Ravenclaw
- red in tooth and claw
- tack claw
- tiger's claw
- toilet claw
- tooth and claw
- wolf's-claw
- claw away
- claw back
- claw off
- claw me, claw thee
Phrases with claw
Words that rhyme with claw
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about claw
- What does claw mean?
- Claw means a curved, pointed, horny projection on each digit of the foot of a mammal, reptile, or bird.
- What is claw in Hindi?
- Claw in Hindi is पञ्जा (pañjā), पंजा (pañjā), खाँग (khāṅg). See Claw meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is claw?
- Claw can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce claw?
- Claw is pronounced /klɔ/.
- What is the plural of claw?
- The plural of claw is claws.
Words near claw in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: claw (page history and authors); Claw (page history and authors); claw (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); claw (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); claw (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ਪਹੁੰਚਾ (Punjabi) (page history and authors); નખ (Gujarati) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-claw.ogg.
Cite this entry: “claw.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/claw. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.