claw

C2+ Topic:The Human Body

US /klɔ/ UK /klɔː/ See IPA manual

noun verb

Meanings

1

noun
a sharp curved nail on an animal's foot; to scratch or grasp with it

The cat extended a claw and hooked the dangling string.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a sharp curved nail on an... talon nail pincer scratch grasp rake

Word family

Related forms clawed

Etymology

From Old English clawu ('claw, hoof'), from Proto-Germanic *klawō, from Proto-Indo-European *gleu- ('to gather into a ball, clump').

clawu Old English *klawō Proto-Germanic

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Topics

The Human Body

# claw

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** klɔ
**IPA (UK):** klɔː

## Meanings
1. a sharp curved nail on an animal's foot; to scratch or grasp with it

## Examples
- The cat extended a claw and hooked the dangling string.

## Synonyms
- talon
- nail
- pincer
- scratch
- grasp
- rake

## Related Forms
- clawed

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: clawu
- Root: *klawō

## Etymology
From Old English clawu ('claw, hoof'), from Proto-Germanic *klawō, from Proto-Indo-European *gleu- ('to gather into a ball, clump').

## AI Etymology
Claw comes from Old English clawu ('claw, hoof'), from Proto-Germanic *klawō, from Proto-Indo-European *gleu- ('to gather into a ball, clump'). The historical trail runs through clawu in Old English and *klawō in Proto-Germanic. Used as a noun and verb, claw now means "a sharp curved nail on an animal's foot; to scratch or grasp with it", so the present definition can be read against the older forms and meanings. The same lexical family is also visible in related forms such as clawed. The word is therefore part of the inherited Germanic layer of English, even where later usage has narrowed, broadened, or specialized the sense.

## Topics
- The Human Body

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claw

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