claw

English

Claw of the short-toed eagle, Circaetus gallicus

Etymology 1

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

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /klɔː/
• (US) IPA: /klɔ/
• (cot–caught merger) IPA: /klɑ/

• audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔː

Noun

claw (plural claws)

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 of a crustacean or other arthropod.
4. A mechanical device resembling a claw, used for gripping or lifting.
5. (juggling, uncountable) The act of catching a ball overhand.

Derived terms

• claw hammer
• get one's claws into

Translations

curved horny nail

• Armenian: ճանկ (hy) (čank), ճիրան (hy) (čiran), մագիլ (hy) (magil)
• Bulgarian: нокът (bg) (nokăt) m
• Catalan: urpa (ca) f, garra (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 爪 (cmn) (zhuǎ)

• Czech: dráp (cs) m
• Danish: klo (da) c
• Dutch: klauw (nl) c
• Estonian: küünis (et)
• Faroese: klógv (fo) f
• Finnish: kynsi (fi)
• French: griffe (fr)
• Galician: uña (gl) f
• German: Klaue (de) f, Kralle (de) f
• Greek: νύχι (el) (nýchi) n
• Hindi: पञ्जा (hi) (pa.njā), पंजा (hi) (pa.njā)
• Hungarian: karom (hu), köröm (hu)
• Irish: crúb (ga) f
• Italian: artiglio (it)
• Kurdish:

  Sorani: چنگ, چرنووک

• Luxembourgish: Klo (lb) f, Krall (lb) f
• Marathi: पंजा (mr)
• Old Church Slavonic: ногъть (nogŭtĭ) m
• Polish: pazur (pl) m
• Portuguese: garra (pt) f
• Romanian: gheară (ro) f
• Russian: коготь (ru) (kógot’) m
• Scottish Gaelic: ìne (gd) f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: канџа (sh) f, панџа (sh) f чапорак (sh) m чапорац (sh) m

  Roman: kandža (sh) f, pandža (sh) f, čaporak (sh) m, čaporac (sh) m

• Slovak: čeľusť (sk), dráp (sk)
• Slovene: krempelj (sl) m
• Spanish: garra (es) f
• Swedish: klo (sv) c
• Tagalog: pangalmot (tl)
• West Frisian: klau (fy) c, kloer (fy) c
• Zulu: izipho (zu) 5/6

a foot equipped with such

• Irish: crág (ga) f
• Polish: szpon (pl) m

• Scottish Gaelic: spòg (gd) f

pincer of a crustacean

• Bulgarian: щипка (bg) (štipka)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: trad. 鉗, simpl. 钳 (qián)

• Danish: klosaks (da) c
• Estonian: sõrg (et)
• Finnish: saksi (fi)
• French: pince (fr)
• German: Schere (de) f

• Hungarian: olló (hu)
• Irish: crúb (ga) f
• Italian: chela (it)
• Portuguese: puã (pt) f
• Romanian: clește (ro) m
• Russian: клешня (ru) (klešnjá) f
• Slovene: klešče (sl) f pl

mechanical device for gripping

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: trad. 鉗子, simpl. 钳子 (qián zi)

• Danish: klo (da) c
• Finnish: leuka (fi)
• French: pied-de-biche (fr) m (pieds-de-biche (fr) pl)
• German: Greifer (de) m
• Hindi: पाना (hi), पकड (hi)

• Irish: ladhar (ga) f
• Italian: palanchino (it), piede di porco (it)
• Marathi: पाना (mr), पकड (mr)
• Polish: kleszcze (pl) pl, szczypce (pl) pl
• Romanian: clește (ro) m
• Russian: тиски (ru) (tiskí) m pl

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Albanian: kthetër (sq) f
• Arabic: المخلب (ar)
• Catalan: urpa (ca)
• Esperanto: ungo (eo)
• Galician: spòg (gl)
• Hebrew: טֹפֶר (he)
• Indonesian: cakar (id)
• Italian: artiglio (it), unghia (it), pinza (it), zampa (it), branca (it) f
• Japanese: 爪 (ja) (つめ, tsume)

• Korean: 발톱 (ko) (baltop)
• Latvian: nags (lv)
• Lithuanian: nagas (lt)
• Norwegian: kloa (no)
• Old English: clawu (ang), clea (ang)
• Papiamentu: pata
• Persian: چنگ (fa), پنجه (fa)
• Romanian: gheară (ro) f, clește (ro)
• Sardinian: farrànca (sc), ungra (sc), ungredda (sc) f
• Spanish: garra (es) f
• Swahili: kucha (sw)
• Tagalog: kuko (tl)
• Thai: กรงเล็บ (th) (grong lép)
• Turkish: pençe (tr)
• Ukrainian: кіготь (uk) (kígot')
• Urdu: پنجہ (ur) (panja)
• Uyghur: (bemelchek)
• Vietnamese: vuốt (vi), càng (vi)
• Welsh: crafanc (cy), ewin (cy)
• Yiddish: (krel)

External links

• Claw on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Etymology 2

From Old English clawian, from clawu.

Verb

claw (third-person singular simple present claws, present participle clawing, simple past and past participle clawed)

1. To scratch or to tear at.
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.
   • 2011 October 15, Phil McNulty, “Liverpool 1 - 1 Man Utd”, BBC Sport:

     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.

6. (obsolete) To relieve uneasy feeling, such as an itch, by scratching; hence, to humor or flatter, to court someone.
   • 1599, Much Ado About Nothing, by William Shakespeare, Act 1 Scene 3

     I cannot hide what I am: I must be sad when I have cause, and smile at no man's jests; eat when I have stomach, and wait for no man's leisure; sleep when I am drowsy, and tend on no man's business; laugh when I am merry, and claw no man in his humour.

Translations

scratch or tear at

• Czech: drápat (cs)
• Danish: kradse (da), rive (da), kradse (da)
• Dutch: klauwen (nl)
• Estonian: küünistama (et)
• Finnish: kynsiä (fi), raapia (fi)
• French: griffer (fr)
• German: kratzen (de), zerkratzen (de)

• Greek: νυχιάζω (el) (nychiázo)
• Hungarian: karmol (hu)
• Italian: raspare (it), graffiare (it), artigliare (it)
• Jèrriais: grimmer
• Polish: drapać (pl)
• Romanian: zgâria (ro)
• Scottish Gaelic: sgrìob (gd)

to use claws to seize, to grip

• Czech: drapnout (cs)
• Danish: gribe (da)
• Finnish: ottaa (fi) kynsiinsä (fi)

• French: s'agripper (fr)
• German: klammern (de), krallen (de)
• Italian: ghermire (it)

use claws to climb

• Czech: drápat (cs) se
• Danish: slå en klo (da) i

• Finnish: kiivetä (fi) kynsiensä (fi) avulla (fi)
• Italian: aggrapparsi (it)