See Also: claw(2)(dictionary)
claw(medicine)
claw(1)(dictionary)
dew-claw(dictionary)
claw 1, noun(dictionary)
bear claw(dictionary)
Claw - Archery(gambling)
wolf's-claw(medicine)
claw 2, verb(dictionary)
lobster-claw deformity(medicine)

claw(1) (iou)



claw noun1.
[Old English clawu (from the oblique cases, the orig. nom. being repr. by clea CLEE) = Old Frisian kle, klawe, Old Saxon clauua (Dutch klauw), Old High German klawa (German Klaue), from West Germanic.]
A sharp horny nail (often slender and curved) on the toes of birds and some animals; a similar structure in some arthropods; a foot with such a nail or nails. OE.
b. A hoof; one of the parts of a (cloven) hoof. OE-M17.
A contrivance resembling a claw, for grappling, holding, etc.; part of the mechanism of a lock. OE.
A hand (contempt.); a bent disfigured hand. L16.
N. Hawthorne A yellow clawthe very same that had clawed together so much wealthpoked itself out of the coach-window.
Botany. In some flowers, the narrow tapering lower part of a petal, by which it is attached. L18.
Comb.: claw-and-ball adjective (of furniture) having feet which represent a claw clasping a ball; claw foot (a) a foot on a piece of furniture, shaped to resemble a claw; (b) Medicine (a condition causing) an excessively arched foot with an unnaturally high instep; claw-hammer a hammer with a curved split end for extracting nails.
clawed adjective (a) having a claw or claws;
clawed toad, a southern African toad, Xenopus laevis, freq. bred for scientific research; (b) (of a hand) bent and disfigured like a claw: ME.
clawless adjective E19.
clawlike adjective resembling (that of) a claw E19.