[syn: claw, chela, nipper, pincer]
4. a bird's foot;
VERB (4)
1. move as if by clawing, seizing, or digging;
- Example: "They clawed their way to the top of the mountain"
2. clutch as if in panic;
- Example: "She clawed the doorknob"
3. scratch, scrape, pull, or dig with claws or nails;
4. attack as if with claws;
- Example: "The politician clawed his rival"
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Claw \Claw\ (kl[add]), n. [AS. clawu, cl[=a], cle['o]; akin to
D. klaauw, G. klaue, Icel. kl[=o], Sw. & Dan. klo, and perh.
to E. clew.]
1. A sharp, hooked nail, as of a beast or bird.
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2. The whole foot of an animal armed with hooked nails; the
pinchers of a lobster, crab, etc.
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3. Anything resembling the claw of an animal, as the curved
and forked end of a hammer for drawing nails.
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4. (Bot.) A slender appendage or process, formed like a claw,
as the base of petals of the pink. --Gray.
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Claw hammer, a hammer with one end of the metallic head
cleft for use in extracting nails, etc.
Claw hammer coat, a dress coat of the swallowtail pattern.
[Slang]
Claw sickness, foot rot, a disease affecting sheep.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Claw \Claw\, v. i.
To scrape, scratch, or dig with a claw, or with the hand as a
claw. "Clawing [in ash barrels] for bits of coal." --W. D.
Howells.
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To claw off (Naut.), to turn to windward and beat, to
prevent falling on a lee shore.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Claw \Claw\ (kl[add]), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Clawed (kl[add]d);
p. pr. & vb. n. Clawing.] [AS. clawan. See Claw, n.]
1. To pull, tear, or scratch with, or as with, claws or
nails.
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2. To relieve from some uneasy sensation, as by scratching;
to tickle; hence, to flatter; to court. [Obs.]
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Rich men they claw, soothe up, and flatter; the poor
they contemn and despise. --Holland.
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3. To rail at; to scold. [Obs.]
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In the aforesaid preamble, the king fairly claweth
the great monasteries, wherein, saith he, religion,
thanks be to God, is right well kept and observed;
though he claweth them soon after in another
acceptation. --T. Fuller
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Claw me, claw thee, stand by me and I will stand by you; --
an old proverb. --Tyndale.
To claw away, to scold or revile. "The jade Fortune is to
be clawed away for it, if you should lose it."
--L'Estrange.
To claw (one) on the back, to tickle; to express
approbation. (Obs.) --Chaucer.
To claw (one) on the gall, to find fault with; to vex.
[Obs.] --Chaucer.
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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
claw
n 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 [syn: hook, claw]
3: a grasping structure on the limb of a crustacean or other
arthropods [syn: claw, chela, nipper, pincer]
4: a bird's foot
v 1: move as if by clawing, seizing, or digging; "They clawed
their way to the top of the mountain"
2: clutch as if in panic; "She clawed the doorknob"
3: scratch, scrape, pull, or dig with claws or nails
4: attack as if with claws; "The politician clawed his rival"
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
79 Moby Thesaurus words for "claw":
abduct, abrade, agonize, bark, blemish, bloody, break, burn,
carry off, catch, chafe, check, chip, convulse, crack, craze,
crucify, cut, excruciate, fracture, fray, frazzle, fret, gall,
gash, grab, grapple, harrow, hurt, impale, incise, injure, kidnap,
kill by inches, lacerate, lancinate, macerate, maim,
make mincemeat of, martyr, martyrize, maul, mutilate, nail, pierce,
puncture, punish, rack, rake, rend, rip, run, rupture, savage,
scald, scarify, scorch, scotch, scrabble, scrape, scratch, scuff,
shanghai, skin, slash, slit, sprain, stab, stick, strain, talon,
tear, throttle, torment, torture, traumatize, wound, wrench,
wring