From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishclawclaw1 /klɔː $ klɒː/ ●●○ noun [countable] 1 HBAHBBa sharp curved nail on an animal, bird, or some insects The cat dug his claws into my leg. lobster claws2 → get your claws into somebody3 TZthe curved end of a tool or machine, used for lifting things a claw hammer
Examples from the Corpus
claw• Bellowing, the thing was trying to reach over the stair-rail with its other encrusted, decomposing claw.• Blackberry almost drove Pipkin on to it with his claws.• We are lost, for they will surely tear us to pieces with their sharp claws.• His arms are wrapped in a white winding cloth, and the claws of a dead chicken hang near his head.• This is because the claws have so many important functions in the life of a cat.• They let the claw go each year and it grows back as big as ever.• Usually the Daemon in that card snarled with bared fangs and reached out with wicked claws.• Dianne Wiest has her moments, though, as a fluffy gangster's moll with claws of steel.clawclaw2 verb [intransitive, transitive] 1 PULLto tear or pull at something, using claws or your fingersclaw at The cat keeps clawing at the rug.2 → claw your way → claw something ↔ back→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
claw• Their dog clawed all the paint off the doors.• Forgetting the pain clawing at her maltreated ankle, Luce stared unbelievingly at a head and shoulders portrait of herself.• Marian's two-year-old toddler was clawing at her skirt.• The cat shifted about on his lap, clawed at the woolen nubs of his trousers.• She was there as her son clawed his way up from the post-coma cognitive level of a 2-year-old.• Benedettini clawed the ball out with his right hand, but a linesman raised his flag to indicate a goal.• Something in his face fought, clawed, was smothered.• You have to really work and claw your way up there.claw at• The cat's been clawing at the furniture again.From Longman Business Dictionaryclawclaw /klɔːklɒː/ verb → claw back→ See Verb tableOrigin claw1 Old English clawu