Word.ws English Dictionary

getting one's claws out

getting one's claws out is the present participle and gerund of get one's claws out.

Meaning of get one's claws out

Verb

get one's claws out (third-person singular simple present gets one's claws out, present participle getting one's claws out, simple past got one's claws out, past participle (UK) got one's claws out or (US) gotten one's claws out)

  1. To prepare to attack or retaliate
    • That cat will always get its claws out when it sees a mouse.
  2. (idiomatic) To prepare to attack or retaliate
    • You'd better watch out: she's got her claws out for you.

Questions about getting one's claws out

What is getting one's claws out the present participle and gerund of?
Getting one's claws out is the present participle and gerund of get one's claws out.

Words near getting one's claws out in the dictionary

  1. getting one's bowels in an uproar
  2. getting one's breath back
  3. getting one's butt somewhere
  4. getting one's claws into
  5. getting one's claws on
  6. getting one's claws out
  7. getting one's clock cleaned
  8. getting one's crap together
  9. getting one's dick wet
  10. getting one's ducks in a row
  11. getting one's end in

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: getting one's claws out (page history and authors); get one's claws out (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.

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