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Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

paw en · NOUN · etymology 1

Pronunciation

  • /pɔ/ (General-American)
  • /pɔː(ɹ)/ (Received-Pronunciation)
  • (US) audio
  • /pɑ/ cot–caught merger, father-bother merger
  • (Received-Pronunciation)
  • /poː(ɹ)/ (Australia)
  • cot–caught merger, father-bother merger
  • (General-American)
  • (UK) audio

Etymology

From Middle English pawe, from Old French poue, poe, from Vulgar Latin *pauta. Further origin unknown, perhaps from Frankish *pōta, from Frankish *pōtōn (“to put, stick, plant”), from Proto-Germanic *putōną, whence also Old English potian (“to push”), pȳtan (“to put out, poke out”). See more at put. Doublet of pote, put, and putt. Cognate with Dutch poot, poten (“to plant”), Low German Pote, German Pfote, Icelandic pota (“to stick”).

Meanings

  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.
  2. (also, humorous, slang) A hand.
    • Get your grubby paws off my things!
    • Abel smiled broadly and proffered his hamlike paw to the chief […] 1935, The American Magazine:
    • Mrs. Hauksbee laid her hand lightly upon the ungloved paw that rested on the turned-backed ’rickshaw hood, and, looking the man full in the face, said tenderly, almost too tenderly, “I believe in you if you mistrust yourself.” 1889, Rudyard Kipling, “The Education of Otis Yeere”, in Under the Deodars, Boston: The Greenock Press, published 1899, page 35:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
paws Number=Plur lexicographic

Coordinates

hoof · talon

Deriveds

kangaroo paw · pawsome · pawrent · pawmark · pawprint · catpaw · grandpaw · southpaw · peet · on the other paw · pawtism · chicken paw · monkey's paw · pawlice · pawdicure · grinch paw · pawpad · pawful · pawless · tiger paw · pawstep · pawty · pawternity leave · pawer · northpaw · white cat's paws · bear paw · cat's paw · paddy paw · pawsitive · pawshake · fox's paw · footpaw · Bearspaw · pawsies · pawlike · give paw · facepaw · forepaw · pawgun · pawjob · bear's-paw

Holonyms

limb

Hypernyms

extremity

Meronyms

claw · finger

Synonyms

foot · hand

Translations (106)

vi chân (soft foot of an animal) · sh šapa (soft foot of an animal) · fa پنجول (soft foot of an animal) · mn тавхай (soft foot of an animal) · ota پنچه (soft foot of an animal) · sh шапа (soft foot of an animal) · cs tlapa (soft foot of an animal) · eo piedo (soft foot of an animal) · izh käpälä (soft foot of an animal) · vo nimafut (soft foot of an animal) · vec sata (soft foot of an animal) · fa پنجه (soft foot of an animal) · uz panja (soft foot of an animal) · cs tlapka (soft foot of an animal) · lv ķepa (soft foot of an animal) · vi cẳng (soft foot of an animal) · ga crág (soft foot of an animal) · he כַּף (soft foot of an animal) · cmn 腳 /脚 (soft foot of an animal) · ar قَدَم (soft foot of an animal) · tk penje (soft foot of an animal) · ko(soft foot of an animal) · nl poot (soft foot of an animal) · vo lufut (soft foot of an animal) · vo fut (soft foot of an animal) · wa pate (soft foot of an animal) · uk ла́па (soft foot of an animal) · ug پەنجە (soft foot of an animal) · yi לאַפּע (soft foot of an animal) · km ជើង (soft foot of an animal) · lo ຕີນ (soft foot of an animal) · ota كف (soft foot of an animal) · vec ẑata (soft foot of an animal) · alt таман (soft foot of an animal) · alt тамаш (soft foot of an animal) · te పంజా (soft foot of an animal) · uz oyoq (soft foot of an animal) · et käpp (soft foot of an animal) · ru ла́па (soft foot of an animal) · cmn(soft foot of an animal) · nrn glomek (soft foot of an animal) · av квачӏ (soft foot of an animal) · ms cakar (soft foot of an animal) · es garra (soft foot of an animal) · af poot (soft foot of an animal) · sq putër (soft foot of an animal) · es zarpa (soft foot of an animal) · ur پنجا (soft foot of an animal) · cmn 爪子 (soft foot of an animal) · mk ше́па (soft foot of an animal) · la pēs (soft foot of an animal) · az pəncə (soft foot of an animal) · cmn(soft foot of an animal) · nv bikeeʼ (soft foot of an animal) · bn থাবা (soft foot of an animal) · ms kaki (soft foot of an animal) · alt табаш (soft foot of an animal) · tg панҷа (soft foot of an animal) · oc pata (soft foot of an animal) · fr patte (soft foot of an animal) · hu mancs (soft foot of an animal) · gd spòg (soft foot of an animal) · ja(soft foot of an animal) · ccc kujtu (soft foot of an animal) · mfe lapat (soft foot of an animal) · id cakar (soft foot of an animal) · izh laappa (soft foot of an animal) · enm pawe (soft foot of an animal) · lt letena (soft foot of an animal) · tr pençe (soft foot of an animal) · kk табан (soft foot of an animal) · sk laba (soft foot of an animal) · tr pati (soft foot of an animal) · mr पंजा (soft foot of an animal) · ja 足の裏 (soft foot of an animal) · th ตีน (soft foot of an animal) · la patta (soft foot of an animal) · hy թաթ (soft foot of an animal) · is loppa (soft foot of an animal) · be ла́па (soft foot of an animal) · el πόδι (soft foot of an animal) · tt аяк (soft foot of an animal) · cs packa (soft foot of an animal) · sl tačko (soft foot of an animal) · ro labă (soft foot of an animal) · gl gadoupa (soft foot of an animal) · fi käpälä (soft foot of an animal) · hi पंजा (soft foot of an animal) · es pata (soft foot of an animal) · de Pfote (soft foot of an animal) · gl pouta (soft foot of an animal) · bg ла́па (soft foot of an animal) · sk packa (soft foot of an animal) · da pote (soft foot of an animal) · nb pote (soft foot of an animal) · pdt Poot (soft foot of an animal) · ckt ягыԓгын (soft foot of an animal) · ky таман (soft foot of an animal) · sv tass (soft foot of an animal) · tr ayak (soft foot of an animal) · it zampa (soft foot of an animal) · ca pota (soft foot of an animal) · fi tassu (soft foot of an animal) · pt pata (soft foot of an animal) · pl łapa (soft foot of an animal) · ka თათი (soft foot of an animal)

Source: en.wiktionary, “paw” (noun), dump 20260902, contributors via the page history. Text licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

paw en · VERB · etymology 1

Pronunciation

  • /pɔ/ (General-American)
  • /pɔː(ɹ)/ (Received-Pronunciation)
  • (US) audio
  • /pɑ/ cot–caught merger, father-bother merger
  • (Received-Pronunciation)
  • /poː(ɹ)/ (Australia)
  • cot–caught merger, father-bother merger
  • (General-American)
  • (UK) audio

Etymology

From Middle English pawe, from Old French poue, poe, from Vulgar Latin *pauta. Further origin unknown, perhaps from Frankish *pōta, from Frankish *pōtōn (“to put, stick, plant”), from Proto-Germanic *putōną, whence also Old English potian (“to push”), pȳtan (“to put out, poke out”). See more at put. Doublet of pote, put, and putt. Cognate with Dutch poot, poten (“to plant”), Low German Pote, German Pfote, Icelandic pota (“to stick”).

Meanings

  1. (transitive) Of an animal, to touch (something) with a paw. ▸ Of an animal, to dig through (something, such as a garbage can) with paws.
  2. (transitive) Of an animal, to touch (something) with a paw. ▸ 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. 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Job 39:21:
  3. (broadly, transitive) To touch (someone) in a sexual way.
    • 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, Amy McWilliams, quoting Verbotene, rec.arts.tv.soaps.abc (Usenet):
    • He was good-looking, masculine, funny, charismatic and he could dance the cha-cha-cha. And he’s never a brute. He’s flirting with women but he’s not pawing them. 2023 October 6, Ryan Gilbey, quoting Illeana Douglas, “The double life of Rock Hudson: ‘Let’s be frank, he was a horndog!’”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
    • 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. 1997 August 17, Robert Spector, misc.fitness.weights (Usenet):
    • 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? 2002 July 18, Lurker Dave, rec.arts.comics.marvel.universe (Usenet):
    • 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 14 Jun 2018:
  4. (broadly, transitive) To clumsily dig (through something).
  5. (dated, transitive) To flatter.

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
pawed Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
pawed Tense=Past lexicographic
paws Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic
pawing Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic

Deriveds

paw at · paw off · paw up

Synonyms

fumble · touch up · fondle · go through · grope · palpate · feel up · rummage · fiddle

Translations (9)

nb skrape (to feel or scrape with a paw or hoof) · fi käpälöidä (to gently push on something) · cs škrábat (to feel or scrape with a paw or hoof) · mi huke (to feel or scrape with a paw or hoof) · fi kuopia (to feel or scrape with a paw or hoof) · cs hrabat (to feel or scrape with a paw or hoof) · nl schrapen (to feel or scrape with a paw or hoof) · ja 足で押す (to gently push on something) · cs škrábnout (to feel or scrape with a paw or hoof)

Source: en.wiktionary, “paw” (verb), dump 20260902, contributors via the page history. Text licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

paw en · NOUN · etymology 2

Pronunciation

  • /pɔ/ (General-American)
  • /pɔː(ɹ)/ (Received-Pronunciation)
  • (US) audio
  • /pɑ/ cot–caught merger, father-bother merger
  • (Received-Pronunciation)
  • /poː(ɹ)/ (Australia)
  • cot–caught merger, father-bother merger
  • (General-American)
  • (UK) audio

Etymology

The word probably has an origin in baby talk. See pa.

Meanings

  1. (alt-of, alternative, qualifier:nonstandard or rustic) Alternative form of pa (“father”).
    alt of pa

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
paws Number=Plur lexicographic

Coordinates

mamaw · mamsie · mommy · mamsy · motherling · Mom · mum · dam · mutha · moms · Colloquial or slang synonyms: · Mum · mom · mummy · Mummy · Mommy · old lady · mumsy · Mother · mother · mamma · memaw · meemaw · mam · mater · mammaw · matriarch · ma · momsy · mammy · mama · minnie · momma

Deriveds

pawpaw · step-paw

Hypernyms

papa · governor · pepaw · pap · pa · pops · daddio · dada · pater · pappy · paw · papa bear · old man · pop · baba · pappaw · ayr · pawpaw · papaw · ba · Father · poppy · peepaw · Pappy · patriarch · sire · poppa · da · father · dad · fatherling · daddy

Synonyms

pepaw · peepaw · pops · fatherling · papa bear · dada · Pappy · poppy · pap · pawpaw · pater · paw · governor · daddy · father · papaw · patriarch · dad · Father · poppa · pop · papa · pappaw · ba · ayr · pappy · baba · pa · old man · daddio · sire · da