noun

1. a sharp, hooked or curved horny structure, or nail, on the foot of a bird and of many reptiles and mammals
2. a foot with such structures at its end
3. the pincers, or chela, of a lobster, crab, scorpion, etc., or on the limb of certain insects
4. anything resembling or regarded as a claw the claw of a hammer

Etymology: ME claue < OE clawu < IE *g(e)l-eu- < base *gel-, to make round, clench (as a fist) > cling, clamp, climb

transitive verb, intransitive verb