paw

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"Your paw was a heap sight worse off'n that Rustlers again?"

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Definitions (23)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (7)

  1. noun The foot of an animal, especially a quadruped, that has claws or nails.
  2. noun Informal A human hand, especially a large clumsy one: "Lennie dabbled his big paw in the water” (John Steinbeck).
  3. transitive verb To strike with the paw or paws.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (9)

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

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (4)

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Examples (50)

  • On either side grew oleander, acacia, laurel, paw-paw, and many flowering shrubs; while in the distance, against the sky, I could see a tall tree scathed by lightning, and leafless In vain I looked out for a fire, to indicate the camp of my companions, when suddenly Caesar, starting forward, gave a loud bark. —  In the Wilds of Florida A Tale of Warfare and Hunting
  • He raised his heavy paw, and gave a crushing blow upon the glass Illustration: "What did the strange beast mean by gazing at him Down fell the trap--for trap it was--and the sharp spikes, heavily weighted, did their work. —  Chatterbox, 1906
  • I bid you good night He put out a great paw, and Mr. Early grasped it weakly, feeling that he was in the position of one who has started an oil "gusher" and can not control its flow. —  Jewel Weed
  • "And pray," said he, "what may a coat-house be Now the handsome young man from Paw-paw was the last person to select for addressing in such a tone as Lysander Totts had taken I beg yore pardon, suh?" —  How Doth the Simple Spelling Bee
  • She started as if some unseen creature had stroked her with its paw, and she glanced swiftly round, to see the face of Ciccio mischievous behind her shoulder Now I think," said Madame, "that today we all take the same train. —  The Lost Girl
 

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This word has been looked up 88 times.

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Etymologies (6)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English pawe, from Old French powe.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (5)

  1. from Middle English pawe, powe, a paw, from Old French poe, poue, powe, pooe, also pote = Provencal pauta = Catalan pota, a paw, from Middle Low German Low German pote = Dutch poot = German pfote = Danish pote, a paw. Cf. Welsh pawen, a paw, claw, foot, = Corn, paw, foot, from English; Breton pao, pav, paw, from OF, Whether Old French pate, French patte, a paw, is connected is not certain: see patten, patrol.
  2. from paw, n.
  3. Perhaps a reduced form of pawk, or else of *pawt, *paut, from paut, v.
  4. from pawl, n.
  5. Perhaps a variant of pah!
 

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/pɔl/
by American Heritage

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