Maw Definition

noun
The stomach or its cavity.
Webster's New World
The stomach of an animal; specif., the fourth stomach of a cud-chewing animal.
Webster's New World
The throat, gullet, jaws, or oral cavity of a voracious animal.
Webster's New World
The opening into something felt to be insatiable.
American Heritage
Anything thought of as consuming, devouring, etc. without end.
Webster's New World

Other Word Forms of Maw

Noun

Singular:
maw
Plural:
maws

Origin of Maw

  • From Middle English mawe, from Old English maga (“stomach, maw"), from Proto-Germanic *magô (“belly, stomach"), from Proto-Indo-European *mak-, *maks- (“bag, bellows, belly"). Cognate with West Frisian mage, Low German mage, Dutch maag (“stomach, belly"), German Magen (“stomach"), Danish mave, Swedish mage (“stomach, belly"), and also with Welsh megin (“bellows"), Russian мошна (moÅ¡ná, “pocket, bag"), Lithuanian mãkas (“purse").

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English mawe from Old English maga

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • By shortening of mother

    From Wiktionary

  • See mew (“a gull").

    From Wiktionary

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