- a sharp, hooked or curved horny structure, or nail, on the foot of a bird and of many reptiles and mammals
- a foot with such structures at its end
- the pincers, or chela, of a lobster, crab, scorpion, etc., or on the limb of certain insects
- anything resembling or regarded as a claw: the claw of a hammer
Origin of claw
Middle English claue from Old English clawu from Indo-European an unverified form g(e)l-eu- from base an unverified form gel-, to make round, clench (as a fist) from source cling, clamp, climb to scratch, clutch, pull, climb, dig, or tear with or as with claws
claw Idioms
claw back
to recover (money paid out previously), as by means of a clawback provision
Origin of claw
extended from general sense, “to get something back through great effort”
