paw

Etymology 1

From Middle English pawe, from Old French poue, poe, from Frankish *pōta (compare Dutch poot, Low German Pote, German Pfote), from Frankish *pōtōn (“to put, stick, plant”) (compare Dutch poten 'to plant'), from Proto-Germanic *putōną (compare Old English potian (“to push”), pȳtan (“to put out, poke out”), Icelandic pota (“to stick”), Albanian putër 'paw'). More at put.

noun

1. The soft foot of a mammal or other animal, generally a quadruped, that has claws or nails; comparable to a human hand or foot.
   Holonym: limb
   Meronyms: claw, finger
2. (humorous) A hand.
   Get your grubby paws off my things!

verb

1. (of an animal) To go through something (such as a garbage can) with paws.
2. (of an animal) To gently push on something with a paw.
3. (of an animal) To draw the forefoot along the ground; to beat or scrape with the forefoot.
   He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in his strength: he goeth on to meet the armed men.
4. (by extension) To touch someone in a sexual way.
   IronMan used to be good in this way, back in the '80s. […] They wouldn't subscribe to the old, "Let's put a male bodybuilder with silicone babes pawing him" cover that's mainstay now. August 17 1997, Robert Spector, misc.fitness.weights
   So, Katherine was out with Luke and they were both quite dolled up and swoon-worthy. Katherine fawned all over Luke and pawed him, but to what end? Was Stefan supposed to believe that Luke and Katherine have some sort of a thing going? What was the point of this display from Katherine's perspective? 1997 October 26, Verbotene, quoted by Amy McWilliams, in rec.arts.tv.soaps.abc
   Subtlety is great, but what exactly happened with Jessica and the cop during sex that he locked her up afterwards? Also, what was the item she nicked from his shirt while she pawed him? July 18 2002, Lurker Dave, rec.arts.comics.marvel.universe
   Tonight there are no drug deals, no fights, only the random foolishness of the young and inebriated. They stagger with linked arms down the middle of the street. They paw at each other. 2018 February, Robert Draper, “They are Watching You—and Everything Else on the Planet: Technology and Our Increasing Demand for Security have Put Us All under Surveillance. Is Privacy Becoming just a Memory?”, in National Geographic, Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2018-06-14
5. (by extension) To clumsily dig through something.
6. (transitive, dated) To flatter.

Etymology 2

The word probably has an origin in baby talk: see ‘pa’.

noun

1. (nonstandard or rural) Father; pa.