Word.ws English Dictionary

showing one's claws

showing one's claws is the present participle and gerund of show one's claws.

Meaning of show one's claws

Verb

show one's claws (third-person singular simple present shows one's claws, present participle showing one's claws, simple past showed one's claws, past participle shown one's claws)

  1. To demonstrate one's ability to hurt another.
    • In this event he really showed his claws by winning ten games, drawing four while losing four.1949, Chess Review - Volume 17, page 7
  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see show, claw.

Questions about showing one's claws

What is showing one's claws the present participle and gerund of?
Showing one's claws is the present participle and gerund of show one's claws.

Words near showing one's claws in the dictionary

  1. showing off
  2. showing one's age
  3. showing one's ass
  4. showing one's butt
  5. showing one's cards
  6. showing one's claws
  7. showing one's hand
  8. showing one's stuff
  9. showing one's teeth
  10. showing one's true colors
  11. showing one's true stripes

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: showing one's claws (page history and authors); show one's claws (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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