CLAW

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does claw mean? 

• CLAW (noun)
  The noun CLAW has 4 senses:

1. sharp curved horny process on the toe of a bird or some mammals or reptiles

2. a mechanical device that is curved or bent to suspend or hold or pull something

3. a grasping structure on the limb of a crustacean or other arthropods

4. a bird's foot

  Familiarity information: CLAW used as a noun is uncommon.

• CLAW (verb)
  The verb CLAW has 4 senses:

1. move as if by clawing, seizing, or digging

2. clutch as if in panic

3. scratch, scrape, pull, or dig with claws or nails

4. attack as if with claws

  Familiarity information: CLAW used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CLAW (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Sharp curved horny process on the toe of a bird or some mammals or reptiles

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("claw" is a kind of...):

horny structure; unguis (any rigid body structure composed primarily of keratin)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "claw"):

bear claw (claw of a bear; often used in jewelry)

talon (a sharp hooked claw especially on a bird of prey)

Derivation:

claw (scratch, scrape, pull, or dig with claws or nails)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A mechanical device that is curved or bent to suspend or hold or pull something

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

claw; hook

Hypernyms ("claw" is a kind of...):

mechanical device (mechanism consisting of a device that works on mechanical principles)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "claw"):

anchor; ground tackle (a mechanical device that prevents a vessel from moving)

pothook (an S-shaped hook to suspend a pot over a fire)

tenterhook (one of a series of hooks used to hold cloth on a tenter)

Holonyms ("claw" is a part of...):

clothes hanger; coat hanger; dress hanger (a hanger that is shaped like a person's shoulders and used to hang garments on)

grapnel; grapple; grappler; grappling hook; grappling iron (a tool consisting of several hooks for grasping and holding; often thrown with a rope)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A grasping structure on the limb of a crustacean or other arthropods

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

chela; claw; nipper; pincer

Hypernyms ("claw" is a kind of...):

appendage; extremity; member (an external body part that projects from the body)

Holonyms ("claw" is a part of...):

crustacean (any mainly aquatic arthropod usually having a segmented body and chitinous exoskeleton)

Derivation:

claw (scratch, scrape, pull, or dig with claws or nails)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A bird's foot

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("claw" is a kind of...):

bird's foot (the foot of a bird)

Derivation:

claw (scratch, scrape, pull, or dig with claws or nails)

• CLAW (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they claw    ... he / she / it claws   
Past simple: clawed   
Past participle: clawed   
-ing form: clawing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Move as if by clawing, seizing, or digging

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Context example:

They clawed their way to the top of the mountain

Hypernyms (to "claw" is one way to...):

make; work (proceed along a path)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something PP

Sense 2

Meaning:

Clutch as if in panic

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

She clawed the doorknob

Hypernyms (to "claw" is one way to...):

clutch; prehend; seize (take hold of; grab)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

Sense 3

Meaning:

Scratch, scrape, pull, or dig with claws or nails

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "claw" is one way to...):

scrape; scratch; scratch up (cut the surface of; wear away the surface of)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "claw"):

clapperclaw (claw with the nails)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

claw (a bird's foot)

claw (sharp curved horny process on the toe of a bird or some mammals or reptiles)

claw (a grasping structure on the limb of a crustacean or other arthropods)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Attack as if with claws

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Context example:

The politician clawed his rival

Hypernyms (to "claw" is one way to...):

assail; assault; attack; lash out; round; snipe (attack in speech or writing)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

 Context examples 

The group's research also included detailed studies of the friction produced by the birds' claws and feet.

(Researchers study birds to improve how robots land, National Science Foundation)

Then they stretched out their claws.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

For example, the team made a gripper claw from a t-shaped mold.

(Tiny magnetic particles enable new material to bend, twist and grab, National Science Foundation)

Scientists have designed a device for testing 'electroceuticals,' or cell-stimulating therapies with induce partial hindlimb regeneration in adult aquatic African clawed frogs (Xenopus laevis) by 'kick-starting' tissue repair at the amputation site.

(Scientists Help Frogs to Regenerate Their Limbs with Bioreactor Device, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

And the Lion said to Dorothy: We are lost, for they will surely tear us to pieces with their sharp claws.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

When he strangled, quite involuntarily his arms and legs clawed the water and drove him up to the surface and into the clear sight of the stars.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

He tore the drugget from the floor, and in an instant was down on his hands and knees clawing at each of the squares of wood beneath it.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

They climbed high trees as nimbly as a squirrel, for they had strong extended claws before and behind, terminating in sharp points, and hooked.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

An herbal combination of two plants, devil's claw (Harpagophytum procumbens) and jambul (Eugenia jambolana) that may be administered both orally and topically in various formulations.

(Devil's Foot/Jambul, NCI Thesaurus)

But the anchor still held them in its crooked claw, and Sir Oliver with fifty men was hard upon their heels.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)