claw

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“
So peculiar a cut could not have been produced with the claw part of a hammer, because the claw is always curved, and the incision was straight.

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Definitions (45)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (6)

  1. noun A sharp, curved, horny structure at the end of a toe of a mammal, reptile, or bird.
  2. noun A chela or similar pincerlike structure on the end of a limb of a crustacean or other arthropod.
  3. noun A limb terminating in such a structure.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (28)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (3)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (8)

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Examples (50)

  • What Snudge had balked at, Tinnis Cat-claw was all too willing to do. —  May, Julian - Boreal Moon 2 - Ironcrown Moon
  • His pale face seemed to float amid a dark wreath of cat's-claw, his left eye nothing but an oozing pit, his right gleaming like a splinter of glass. —  FSF,March2008
  • The male ones have one giant claw which is bigger than their shells, making them look very funny. —  Sheylara.com
  • Proper left hand technique is a sort of "claw," yet many players, especially in bluegrass, use a "clamp," where all of their fingers are together and they play primarily with their middle finger, shifting all over the place! —  Mandolin Cafe News
  • Captures its prey in its claw, then kills it with its poisonous tail. —  IGN Complete
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Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

paw ·  talon ·  fang ·  tooth ·  tail ·  fist ·  leg ·  nail ·  limb ·  blade ·  wing ·  horn

Used in the same contextWord Family

claw:   claws ·  clawing ·  clawed

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English clawe, from Old English clawu.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. from Middle English claw, clau (also clee, cle), plural clawes, clowes (also clees, cleen), from Anglo-Saxon clawu or clāwu (not *clā), plural clawa, clawe, clawu (also, rarely, plural cleá, cleó), a claw, hoof, = Old Saxon klawa = OFries. klewe, Friesic klauwe = Dutch klaauw = Old High German chlawa, chlāwa, chlōa, clōa, Middle High German klāwe, klā, German klaue, dial, klō, klōw, klou, kloa, = Icelandic kiō- Swedish Danish klo, a claw. See the verb.
  2. from Middle English clawen, clowen, from Anglo-Saxon clawian (rare) = Dutch klaauwen = Middle Low German kleien = Low German kleien, klauen = Old High German kiāwean, German klauen, kläuen = Danish klö, dial, klaa, = Swedish kiå = Icelandic reflex. klōa-sk, claw, scratch: all weak verbs, from the noun. The Icelandic klā (strong verb, preterit kl ō, past participle kleginn), scratch, rub, is perhaps not related.
 

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/klɔ/
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