pawer

noun

1. the foot of a four-footed animal having claws
2. Informal a hand

Origin: ME paue < OFr poue < Frank *pauta, a paw (< pre-Celt *pauta) > Ger pfote

transitive verb, intransitive verb

1. to touch, dig, hit, strike out (at), etc. with the paws or feet: a horse pawing the air
2. 1. to handle clumsily or roughly: she pawed angrily through the papers on her desk
   2. to caress in too familiar a way