claw

Etymology 1

From Middle English clawe, from Old English clawu, from Proto-Germanic *klawō. Compare West Frisian klau, Dutch klauw, German Klaue, Danish klo, Norwegian klo, and Swedish klo.

noun

1. A curved, pointed horny nail on each digit of the foot of a mammal, reptile, or bird.
2. A foot equipped with such.
3. The pincer (chela) of a crustacean or other arthropod.
4. A mechanical device resembling a claw, used for gripping or lifting.
5. (colloquial) A human fingernail, particularly one extending well beyond the fingertip.
6. (botany) A slender appendage or process, formed like a claw, such as the base of petals of the pink.
   a narrow base, as the petals of a Rose, where the claw is very short 1857, Asa Gray, First Lessons in Botany and Vegetable Physiology
7. (juggling) The act of catching a ball overhand.

Etymology 2

From Middle English clawen, from Old English clawan, clāwan, *clēn, clawian, from Proto-Germanic *klawjaną.

verb

1. To scratch or to tear at.
   Using her hands like windshield wipers, she tried to flick snow away from her mouth. When she clawed at her chest and neck, the crumbs maddeningly slid back onto her face. She grew claustrophobic. 2012, John Branch, “Snow Fall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek”, in New York Times
2. To use the claws to seize, to grip.
3. To use the claws to climb.
4. (juggling) To perform a claw catch.
5. To move with one's fingertips.
   De Gea was United's hero again within seconds of Hernandez's equaliser, diving to his left to claw away Dirk Kuyt's shot as he got on the end of a superb cross from Stewart Downing. October 15, 2011, Phil McNulty, “Liverpool 1 - 1 Man Utd”, in BBC Sport
6. (transitive, obsolete)
   1. To relieve an uneasy feeling, such as an itch, by scratching (someone or something); hence (figurative), to flatter or humour (someone); to court, to fawn on.
   2. To rail at, revile, or scold (someone or something).
   3. To do (something) quickly.