PAW

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does paw mean? 

• PAW (noun)
  The noun PAW has 2 senses:

1. a clawed foot of an animal especially a quadruped

2. the (prehensile) extremity of the superior limb

  Familiarity information: PAW used as a noun is rare.

• PAW (verb)
  The verb PAW has 2 senses:

1. scrape with the paws

2. touch clumsily

  Familiarity information: PAW used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PAW (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A clawed foot of an animal especially a quadruped

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

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

animal foot; foot (the pedal extremity of vertebrates other than human beings)

Meronyms (parts of "paw"):

pad (the fleshy cushion-like underside of an animal's foot or of a human's finger)

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

forepaw (front paw; analogous to the human hand)

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

canid; canine (any of various fissiped mammals with nonretractile claws and typically long muzzles)

felid; feline (any of various lithe-bodied roundheaded fissiped mammals, many with retractile claws)

Derivation:

paw (scrape with the paws)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The (prehensile) extremity of the superior limb

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

hand; manus; mitt; paw

Context example:

he extended his mitt

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

extremity (that part of a limb that is farthest from the torso)

Meronyms (parts of "paw"):

metacarpal vein; vena metacarpus (dorsal and palmar veins of the hand)

intercapitular vein; vena intercapitalis (veins connecting the dorsal and palmar veins of the hand or the dorsal and plantar veins of the foot)

arteria metacarpea; metacarpal artery (dorsal and palmar arteries of the hand)

arteria digitalis; digital arteries (arteries in the hand and foot that supply the fingers and toes)

palm; thenar (the inner surface of the hand from the wrist to the base of the fingers)

finger (any of the terminal members of the hand (sometimes excepting the thumb))

ball (a more or less rounded anatomical body or mass)

metacarpus (the part of the hand between the carpus and phalanges)

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

clenched fist; fist (a hand with the fingers clenched in the palm (as for hitting))

hooks; maulers; meat hooks (large strong hand (as of a fighter))

right; right hand (the hand that is on the right side of the body)

left; left hand (the hand that is on the left side of the body)

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

homo; human; human being; man (any living or extinct member of the family Hominidae characterized by superior intelligence, articulate speech, and erect carriage)

arm (a human limb; technically the part of the superior limb between the shoulder and the elbow but commonly used to refer to the whole superior limb)

Derivation:

paw (touch clumsily)

• PAW (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they paw    ... he / she / it paws   
Past simple: pawed   
Past participle: pawed   
-ing form: pawing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Scrape with the paws

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

The bear pawed the door

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

grate; scrape (scratch repeatedly)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

paw (a clawed foot of an animal especially a quadruped)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Touch clumsily

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

The man tried to paw her

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

caress; fondle (touch or stroke lightly in a loving or endearing manner)

"Paw" entails doing...:

touch (make physical contact with, come in contact with)

Sentence frames:

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

Derivation:

paw (the (prehensile) extremity of the superior limb)

pawer (a person who handles or caresses in a clumsy or overfamiliar manner)

 Context examples 

He turned it over with his paw.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

"I didn't bite him," said the Lion, as he rubbed his nose with his paw where Dorothy had hit it.

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

Then the miller was afraid, and made his paws white for him.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

Professor Challenger raised his great eyebrows in protest, and placed a soothing paw upon my shoulder.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Shall I not know him by his great paws and his red head?

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I have good reason to believe, that he took me for a young one of his own species, by his often stroking my face very gently with his other paw.

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

And I've got it, now, in my last grasp, and I'll not have it pawed over and soiled by a lot of swine.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

As expected, mutant mice fed a regular diet developed hind paw inflammation, bone erosion, and enlarged lymph nodes by day 100.

(Diet Affects Autoinflammatory Disease Via Gut Microbes, NIH)

EXAMPLE(S): he left kidney of a person, a dog's right from paw, a patch of skin on a person's left forearm

(Biologic Entity Part, NCI Thesaurus/BRIDG)

The paws are large and round, with arched toes and strong, curved nails.

(Irish Wolfhound, NCI Thesaurus)