▪ I. claw, n.
(klɔː)
Forms: 1 clawu, 2 clau, (3 pl. clawe, clawwess (Orm.)), 4 clauwe, (pl. clauen), 4–6 clowe, 4–7 clawe, 5– claw. See also clee.
[OE. clawu (Ep. Erf. Corp. clauuo), obl. cases clawe. The quantity of the a is uncertain: if long, cláwu would be identical with OS. clâuua (MDu. claeuwe, Du. klauw), OHG. chlâwa (MHG. klâwe, klâ, modG. klaue), pointing to a type *klæ̂wâ-. But Ormin has the a short, and this answers better to the form clawu; an original type *klawâ would also best explain the OHG. variant chlôa, chlô (through chlaua, chlau). The OE. clawu (the ordinary WS. type) of the nominative was a new form reconstructed from the oblique cases; the original nominative type was cléa (:—clau, claw-), and cléo; see clee. (The ON. kló is not identical; it appears to be:—*klôh-, belonging to the vb. klâ-, kló: see next.)]
1. a. The sharp horny nail with which the feet of birds and some beasts are armed. Also applied to similar structures on the feet of insects, crustacea, etc.
| a 700 Epinal Gloss. 29 Clauuo [so Erf. and Corpus]. c 1000 ælfric Gram. ix. 28 (Bosw.) Næᵹl oððe clawu, unguis. a 1250 Owl & Night. 153 Þu havest scharpe clawe. a 1300 Body & Soul 370 in Map's Poems (Mätz.) Scharpe clauwes, long nayled. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 783 To bataile he [a bear] bownez him with bustous clowez. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 80 Claw or cle of a beste, ungula. c 1530 Ld. Berners Arth. Lyt. Bryt. (1814) 159 His nayles or clowes lenger then a fote. 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. iv. ii. 43 His nailes..shall hang out for the Lions clawes. 1664 Power Exp. Philos. i. 2 His [the Flea's] feet are slit into claws or talons. 1855 Gosse Marine Zool. I. 155 (Porcelain crabs) First feet very long and slender with long claws. |
b. ‘The foot of a beast or bird, armed with sharp nails, or the pincers or holders of shell-fish’ (J.). This is only a loose use, arising out of such phrases as
in its claws,
with its claws, etc.
| a 1000 Phœnix 277 (Gr.) Fenix fyres lafe clam biclyppeþ. 1340 Ayenb. 61 Bodyes of wyfman, and tayl of uisssse, and clauen of arn. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. viii. 50 As a Bittur in the Eagles clawe. 1796 H. Hunter tr. St. Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) I. 470 If you tear off a claw from a live crab or lobster, it pushes out another. 1837 Whewell Hist. Induct. Sc. (1857) I. 148 The southern claw of Cancer. |
† 2. A hoof, or one of the parts into which a (cloven) hoof is divided.
Obs. Cf. clee.
| c 1000 ælfric Lev. xi. 3 Þa nytenu þe hira clawe todælede beoþ. c 1200 Ormin 1225 Oxe gaþ o clofenn fot & shædeþþ hise clawwess. 1535 Coverdale Deut. xiv. 6 Euery beest that deuydeth his clawe, & cheweth cudd, shal ye eate. Neuertheles these shal ye not eate..that..deuyde not the hoffe in to two clawes. 1544 Phaër Regim. Lyfe (1560) I ij b, Goates clawes brent and poudred..or in stede of it shepes clawes. 1661 Lovell Hist. Anim. & Min. 109 With claws like a Cow; but quadrifide. |
3. fig. (Chiefly in
phr. in one's claws, etc., implying the notion of seizing, or having in one's possession or power.)
to pare the claws of is a common phrase resting immediately on sense 1, but usually
fig. in use.
| c 1386 Chaucer Man of Law's T. 356 Me fro the feend and fro his clowes keepe. 1576 Fleming Panoplie Ep. 185 After that he had aspired to principalitie, and had caught governement within his clawes. 1617 Hieron Wks. (1619–20) II. 221 So subtill is the deuill to make roome for himselfe, when hee hath once got in his claw. 1664 Butler Hud. ii. ii. 282 What's justice to a man, or laws, That never comes within their claws? 1790 Cowper Lett. 26 Nov., I am happy that you have escaped from the claws of Euclid. 1884 Pall Mall G. 23 Oct. 1/1 To draw the teeth and pare the claws of the Peers. |
4. ‘Sometimes a hand, in contempt’ (J.).
| 1577 Harrison England ii. vi. (1877) i. 151 Some of them doo suffer their iawes to go oft before their clawes. 1851 Hawthorne Snow Image, etc., Gt. Snow Face, A yellow claw—the very same that had clawed together so much wealth—poked itself out of the coach-window. |
5. transf. A mechanical or other contrivance resembling a claw;
e.g. a curved iron with sharpened extremity for grappling or tearing; the back part of a hammer head curved and cloven, or any similar tool for extracting nails; the spreading divisions of the foot of a table or stand; the ends of a horse-shoe, etc. Also, part of the mechanism of a lock; a device in a cine-camera or projector.
| c 1000 ælfric Hom. I. 542 (Bosw.) Sume wæron mid isenum clawum totorene. 1535 Coverdale Jer. xvii. 1 Youre synne..is..grauen..with a penne of yron and with an Adamant clawe. 1609 Holland Amm. Marcel. xxix. i. 355 After they had beene sore tormented with clawes [unguibus]. 1677 Moxon Mech. Exerc. (1703) 124 Draw it out again with the Claw of the Hammer. 1707 Lond. Gaz. No. 4338/4 Printed with a Horse-shoe, with Claws downward. 1816 J. Smith Panorama Sc. & Art I. 15 Hammers made for the purpose of drawing nails, with claws. 1823 J. Badcock Dom. Amusem. 203 A stand with three claws. 1851 W. P. Snow Jrnl. Arct. Seas xii. 156 To hook the iron claws on to the outer edges of the ice ahead. a 1877 Knight Dict. Mech. I. 562/1 Claw,..a spur or talon projecting from a bolt or tumbler. 1911 C. N. Bennett Handbk. Kinematogr. ii. 5 The form of hook actually employed in the intermittent movement or escapement of kinematograph cameras is called..‘pin’ or ‘claw’. 1927 E. G. Lutz Motion-Picture Cameraman i. 9 In a typical camera..a pair of claws..move up and down and in and out; when they are moving up the claws are clear of the film..and when they are moving down they, having engaged with the perforations, pull the film down. 1962 B.S.I. News Sept. 34 Claw-to-gate distance in 8 mm cinematograph equipment. |
6. Bot. The narrow sharpened base of the petal, in some flowers, by which it is attached.
| 1794 Martyn Rousseau's Bot. ii. 28 Each of these petals is fastened to the receptacle..by a narrow pale part which is called unguis, or the claw. 1835 Lindley Introd. Bot. i. ii. §4 ¶7 (L.) In..R. Œillet,..the petals consist wholly of claw. 1861 Miss Pratt Flower. Pl. I. 6 The upper large part of the petal is termed the limb, and the lower the claw. |
7. [
f. claw v.] An act of clawing.
to make a claw to windward (
Naut.):
= claw. v. 7.
| 1841 Gen. P. Thompson Exerc. (1842) VI. 19 If the friends of the Charter only had the grace of seamanship, there would be a noble opportunity to make a claw to windward out of the misery the War-whigs have plunged themselves into. |
8. attrib. and
Comb., as
claw-leg,
claw-like,
claw-mark,
claw-scratch,
claw-wound adjs.;
claw-and-ball, applied to furniture of which the feet are characterized by the representation of a claw clasping a ball;
claw-bar, a lever or crow-bar with a bent bifurcated claw for drawing spikes;
claw-chisel, a chisel with a serrated cutting edge;
claw clutch or
coupling (see
quot. 1904);
claw-feet, (
attrib.) having feet with or like claws;
claw-foot, (
a) a piece of furniture with feet shaped to resemble claws; also
attrib.; (
b) a disease causing distortion of the foot; a foot thus affected;
claw-footed a., having claws on the feet;
claw-hammer, a hammer with a claw for extracting nails; also
ellipt. for
claw-hammer coat;
claw-hammer coat (
colloq.), a tail-coat for evening dress;
claw-hand, a condition incident to some diseases, in which the wrist is extended and the fingers flexed, owing to atrophy of certain muscles; a hand thus affected;
claw-lever, a lever which divides into two claws in such a way that it can grip both sides of an article;
† claw-poll, a flatterer, toady (
cf. claw-back);
claw-screw, a screw with a clawed head;
claw-table, a one-legged table with claws (see sense 5);
claw-tailed a., having a tail resembling a claw.
| 1902 Connoisseur Jan. 55/1 It [sc. a wine cistern] is supported by four *claw-and-ball feet. 1906 Westm. Gaz. 23 Jan. 2/1 Perfect specimens of claw-and-ball furniture. 1955 Times 7 July 5/7 Carved tripods terminating in claw-and-ball feet (4 ft. high). 1960 Claw and ball [see ball n.1 19 b]. |
| 1933 Times Lit. Suppl. 23 Mar. 195/2 The earliest marble statues show no trace of the *claw-chisel, drill or gouge, and only a minimal use of the flat chisel. 1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 167/1 Claw chisel, a chisel, having a 2-in.-long serrated cutting edge, used for rough-dressing building stone. |
| 1904 Goodchild & Tweney Technol. & Sci. Dict. 109/1 *Claw coupling or clutch, a pair of flanges on the opposing ends of two shafts, with projections which engage each other when the two flanges are brought together, thus connecting the shafts so that they turn together. 1930 Engineering 21 Mar. 376/2 Reversal is effected by a claw clutch. |
| 1823 Mechanic's Mag. No. 18. 274 A *claw-feet pillar or stand. |
| 1867 Lowell Biglow Papers vi. 153 But the old chist wun't sarve her gran'son's wife... An' so ole *clawfoot, from the precinks dred O' the spare chamber, slinks into the shed. 1881 Harper's Mag. Mar. 528/1 About 1700 the claw-foot side-boards, sofas and tables were generally used. 1901 Dorland Med. Dict. (ed. 2), Claw-foot, atrophy and distortion of the foot. 1920 Glasgow Herald 8 July 4 Foot-drop, corns and contracted toes, claw-foot. 1938 L. MacNeice Earth Compels 45 The claw-foot table. |
| 1667 R. Hope 11 Mar. in Calendar State Papers Chas. II (ed. Green), *Claw-footed like a dog. 1858 O. W. Holmes Aut. Breakf.-t. (1883) 19 Claw-footed chairs. |
| 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1789) C cciij b, A *claw-hammer used by shipwrights. 1878 B. F. Taylor Between Gates 27 A youthful descendant of Ham, with a heel like a claw-hammer. 1881 Harper's Mag. Sept. 556/2 Adoniram's coat was made in the style then called straight-bodied,..by the facetious called claw-hammer. 1888 N.Y. Sun 29 Sept. (Farmer), Don't..call a dress-coat a swallow-tail, or a claw-hammer. |
| 1869 ‘Mark Twain’ Innoc. Abr. 389 What a furbishing up of *claw-hammer coats. 1879 Kingston Austral. Abroad i. 7 The tails of his claw-hammer coat drag on the ground. 1887 F. Ford in Mag. Art Mar. 169/2 The ‘claw⁓hammer’ coat (as the Americans call it) essential to the evening dress of a gentleman of the Victorian era. 1955 in Halpert & Story Christmas Mumming in Newfoundland (1969) 282 Costumes used for disguise are listed: ‘claw-hammer coats’, hats, bonnets, [etc.]. |
| 1879 Smiles G. Moore, Any man who had a stick leg or a club foot or a *claw hand thought himself fit to be a teacher. |
| 1922 Joyce Ulysses 698 Loo table with pillar and *claw legs. |
| 1892 J. Nasmith Students' Cotton Spinning 266 On the same arbor..is a *claw lever engaging with the ring grove. |
| 1835–6 Todd Cycl. Anat. I. 615/2 Beset with..*claw-like processes. |
| 1828 P. Cunningham N.S. Wales (ed. 3) II. 36 On the *claw-marks being discerned, they climb up by successive notches in the bank. 1920 Chambers's Jrnl. 89/2 Two parallel lines of claw-marks. |
| 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 561 Certeine *Claw⁓poules & Parasites. |
| 1897 ‘P. Warung’ Tales Old Régime 190 A feline *claw-scratch. |
| 1795 Herschel in Phil. Trans. LXXXV. 366 *Claw-screws..to confine and stretch the parts as they were seamed together. |
| 1832 G. Porter Porcelain & Gl. vi. 93 Similar to the leg and feet of a *claw table. |
| 1657 S. Purchas Pol. Flying-Ins. 50 The *claw-tailed Humble-Bee. |
| 1891 Pall Mall Gaz. 22 June 7/1 Two *claw wounds on her chest. |
▪ II. claw, v. (
klɔː)
Forms: 1
clawian, (
clawan), 3–4
clawen, 4–7
clawe (4–5
clowe, 5
clave,
clove, 6
klawe), 6–
claw.
Pa. tense and
pple. clawed (5
clavde,
clovyd, 6
claud(e);
str. pa. tense
clew(e,
clywe in 4–5 and
mod. dial. (in sense 3).
[In OE. in ælfric's Gram.: where clawiᵹe belongs to a weak clawian, deriv. of clawa claw: cf. OHG. chlâwen, modG. klauen, kläuen, ODu. *klauwian, MDu. clouwen, clôien, MLG. klouwen, also MDu. claeuwen, Du. klauwen, in same sense. But the OE. clawe implies a str. vb. clawan, not found in the cognate langs. (The a in OE. is, as in the n., of doubtful length.) In pa. ME. had generally claw(e)de, mod. clawed; but the strong clew is found in 14–15th c., app. only in sense 3 as in mod.Sc., which has also sometimes a pa. pple. clewn. (But strong inflexions of recent analogical origin are common dialectally.) It is possible that sense 3 and its extensions were influenced by the ON. str. vb. klá (klah-, klôh-, klôgom), used in that sense only, but not known to be etymologically related: see cloe.] 1. a. trans. To scratch or tear with the claws, or (
transf.) with the nails or a pointed instrument.
| c 1000 ælfric Gram. xxviii. (Z.) 170 Scalpo, ic clawe [v.r. clawiᵹe]. a 1250 Owl & Night. 154 No þu havest scharpe clawe Ne kepe ich noht þat þu me clawe. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. Prol. 154 He [the cat] wil..Cracche vs, or clowe vs, and in his cloches holde. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 80 Clawyn or cracchyn [1499 scratche]. 1547 Boorde Brev. Health §292 A good payre of nayles, to crache and clawe. 1648 Hunting of Fox 25 If we cannot claw, then must we dig them out. 1653 R. Mather in Eliot & Mayhew Tears Repent. C 3 b, The Grounds that they have fenced in, and clawed and broken up. 1749 Fielding Tom Jones xi. viii. (1840) 162/2, I have clawed the rascal: I have left the marks of my nails in his impudent face. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. iv, ‘I would claw down the tolbooth door wi' my nails.’ 1884 Leeds Mercury Weekly Supp. 15 Nov. 8/2 Five young kestrels..clawing one another vindictively. |
b. To scrape.
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xiv. 17 Contricioun..Þat shal clawe þi cote of alkynnes filthe. |
2. a. To seize, grip, clutch, or pull with claws. Also
fig.,
to claw back, to regain gradually or with great effort; to take back (an allowance by additional taxation, etc.);
to claw down, to pull down, to defeat; to shoot down (an aeroplane, etc.).
| 1557 ? Ld. Vaux in Tottel Misc. (Arb.) 173 For age with steyling steppes, Hath clawed me with his cowche [crowche]. 1602 Shakes. Ham. v. i. 80 But Age..hath clawed [Ff. caught] me in his clutch. 1674 N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 90 That which claws away world from about them, would, 'tis like, wring out their Planethood from within them. 1751 Mrs. Delany Lett. Mrs. Dewes 67, I was clawed into the party out of civility. 1819 Byron Juan i. clxxxv, If at that moment he had chanced to claw it [the sword]. a 1863 Thackeray D. Duval iv. (1869) 49 His hands..stretched out to claw other folks' money towards himself. 1942 L. E. O. Charlton Britain at War 11 First steps to ‘clawing them down’... A cadet is learning how to handle a machine-gun. 1953 Economist 21 Feb. 499/1 The Government would also make sure that..such tax relief was clawed back from surtax payers. 1957 Ibid. 30 Nov. 804/2 The Commercial Bank is engaged on a nationalist enterprise—clawing back from the Sassenachs, control of one of Scotland's banks. 1958 Church Times 8 Aug. 3/4 Conditions are even clawing down decent people. 1959 Observer 21 June 26/8 Relaxing round the last bend and clawing back a one-yard deficit in a prolonged battle up the long home straight. 1970 Daily Tel. 30 May 16 This is a special deduction which was introduced by the Finance Act 1968 to enable the Inland Revenue to ‘claw back’ the 10s a week increase in the allowance. 1971 Times 23 Jan. 18/5 The Labour Chancellor should have increased family allowances..and ‘clawed’ it back from richer tax payers. |
b. intr. To lay hold with the claws or (
transf.) hands; to grasp or clutch (
at, etc.); to scratch
at.
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xvii. 188 Powere hem [the fingers] failleth To clucche or to clawe. 1850 Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. vi, Sam and Andy, clawing for certain fragmentary palm-leaves, which they were in the habit of considering as hats. 1863 Bates Nat. Amazons II. 57 [The sloth] raises his body..and claws around in search of a fresh foothold. 1863 Kingsley Water-bab. v. (1878) 202 Tom reached and clawed down the hole after him. |
3. a. trans. To scratch gently, apply friction with the nails, so as to relieve itching or irritation, promote calmness or clear-headedness, or soothe. (Now, the common sense in
Sc.: thence ‘to claw an auld man's pow’
= to attain to old age.)
| c 1320 Seuyn Sag. (W.) 925 He clew the bor on the rigge.. He clewe him eft upon the wombe; He fil adoun als a lombe. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 5339 Wanne þe Ameral hym vnderstod, A clew ys heued. c 1384 Chaucer H. Fame 1702 With that about y clywe [Bodley, clew; Caxton, torned] myn hede. c 1386 ― Wife's T. 84 If eny wight wold claw us on the galle. c 1460 J. Russell Bk. Nurture 279 in Babees Bk. (1868) 134 Youre hed ne bak ye claw, a fleigh as þaughe ye sought. 1532 More Confut. Tindale Wks. 728/1 He began to studie a little, & clawe his head, and rubbe his forehead. 1572 N. Roscarrock Prelim. Verses in Bossewell Armorie, The court brake vp, they claude their eares & parted with a trice. 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, ii. iv. 282 Looke, if the wither'd Elder hath not his Poll claw'd like a Parrot. 1637 Rutherford Lett. No. 138 (1862) I. 331 When he [Job] lay in the ashes, God was with him, clawing and curing his scabs. 1664 Butler Hud. ii. ii. 74 Whether't be a Sin To claw and curry your own Skin. 1813 E. Picken Poems II. 140 (Jam.) I..claw, owre soon, an auld man's pow. |
b. intr.| 1393 Gower Conf. II. 93 He sitteth by the fire And claweth on his bare shankes. 1862 Thornbury Turner I. 315 The giant..claws at his wound, and raises his supplicating hand to Neptune. |
† c. Phr.
to claw where it doth not itch.
Obs.| 1515 Barclay Egloges iv. (1570) C iij/3, I clawe oft where it doth not itche, To see ten beggers and half a dosen riche. 1562 J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 70 Thou makest me claw where it itcheth not. 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie iii. xxiii. (Arb.) 279 A Herald..vsed much this terme (sacred Maiestie) which was not vsually geuen to the French king..[The latter] said somewhat sharply, I pray thee good fellow clawe me not where I itch not with thy sacred maiestie. |
† 4. a. fig. to claw the back of, or
to claw by the back: to ‘stroke down’, flatter, fawn upon. So
to claw (a person's) toe,
to claw by the sleeve.
Obs. exc. dial.| c 1394 P. Pl. Crede 365 Whou þey curry kinges, & her back claweþ. c 1460 Towneley Myst. 109 And do noght but lakys and clowse hir toose. 1509 Barclay Shyp Folys (1874) II. 29 He loueth to be flatered and clawed by the sleue. 1530 Palsgr. 349 He claweth my toe, il me gratigne le orteil. a 1541 Wyatt Poet. Wks. (1861) 158 ‘Take heed of him that by the back thee claweth:’ For none is worse than is a friendly foe. 1597 Bp. Hall Sat. i. Prol. 11 To claw the back of him that beastly lives. 1881 [see 5]. |
† b. So
to claw the ears,
humour, etc.: to tickle, flatter, gratify (the senses, etc.).
Obs.| 1549 Coverdale Erasm. Par. 1st John 45 Certayne iugglinges of vayne pleasures to clawe the senses of the bodye withall. 1579 Tomson Calvin's Serm. Tim. 468/1 Yet those men..would gladly haue their eares clawed with some vaine matter. 1655 W. Gurnall Chr. in Arm. xvi. (1669) 64/2 The false Prophets pleasing words, with which they clawed Ahab's proud humour. 1681 R. Lestrange Apol. Prot. iv. ii. 124 They claw and gratifie the vanity and ambition of the Monks. |
5. a. Thence
claw itself came to mean: To flatter, cajole, wheedle, fawn upon.
Obs. exc. dial.| c 1425 Seven Sag. (P.) 984 Thus schaltou be clovyd alse With fykyl wordis & with false. 1553 N. Grimalde Cicero's Offices i. (1558) 41 Nor suffer ourselves to bee clawed with flatterye. 1591 Sylvester Du Bartas i. iv. (1641) 31/2 In courting Ladies, or in clawing Lords. 1599 Shakes. Much Ado i. iii. 18, I must..laugh when I am merry, and claw no man in his humor. 1621 Molle Camerar. Liv. Libr. i. xii. 39 Let no man..claw himselfe with the discourse of the nobilitie of his predecessors. 1628 Wither Brit. Rememb. iii. 949 Whose Dedications Doe sooth and claw the times abominations. 1703 J. Savage Lett. Antients xiv. 74, I shou'd seem to conspire with you, to claw one another. 1881 Leicestersh. Gloss. (E.D.S.), Claw, to flatter; cringe to; ‘toady’..to ‘claw the back’ is the commoner form. |
b. Phr.
claw me and I'll claw thee.
| 1531 Tindale Expos. 1 John (1537) 72 We saye, clawe me, clawe y⊇. 1614 T. Adams Devil's Banquet 64 Claw me, and I will claw thee: Winke at mine, and I will not see thy faults. 1637 Heywood Dialogues xiv. 228 These two betwixt themselves use Homers phrase, Claw me, I'le claw thee; Let's live many dayes. 1653 Gataker Vind. Annot. Jer. 36 If he would..claw Mr. Lihe a little, M.L. would claw him again. 1825 Blackw. Mag. XVII. 461, I do not object to Jeffrey's clawing his..brother Editor, who so regularly claws him in his New Monthly. |
† c. intr. Const.
upon,
with.
Obs.| 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1673) 109 If they fawn and claw upon a man. c 1645 Howell Lett. (1650) II. 52 Here it is not the stile to claw and complement with the king. 1670 Baxter Cure Ch. Div. Pref. iii. §4 That I have clawed with one party, and have girded at the other. |
d. to claw favour: to curry favour.
Obs. or
Sc.| 1814 Scott Wav. xi, ‘Ane wha deserts his ain friends to claw favour wi' the rats of Hanover.’ |
6. trans. to claw off:
a. To get rid of (as an itch by clawing), to get free from.
b. (
Sc.) To ‘get rid of’, ‘dispose of’ (food); to eat with rapidity and voraciousness’ (
Jam.).
Obs.| 1514 Visit. Bp. Norwich in Tanner MS. 210. 46 (Bodl. Libr.), I shall gyff the such a stryppe that thow shalt not klawe yt of a yere after. 1630 Prynne Anti-Armin. 89 A stegmaticall Impresse, which our Arminians shall neuer be able to claw off againe. 1668 Dryden Sir M. Mar-all ii. i, I have not yet claw'd off your last ill Usage. 1748 Richardson Clarissa (1811) VIII. 355 This..is a grief, he declares, that he shall never claw off. a 1769 Watty & Madge in Herd Collection (1776) II. 200 (Jam.) [He] clawed it aff most cleverly Till he could eat nae mair. |
7. Naut. (
intr.) ‘To beat or turn to windward from a lee-shore, so as to be at sufficient distance from it to avoid shipwreck’ (Smyth
Sailor's Word-bk.). Also
to claw off (the shore, or
from the shore, or
absol.), quasi-trans.
to claw it off. So (
trans.)
to claw the wind.
| 1615 T. Roe Jrnl. 24 Aug. (1899) I. 36 Beeing then a Lee shoare, in such extremities of wynd, ther wilbe noe Possibilitye to Claw it off. a 1642 Sir W. Monson Naval Tracts ii. (1704) 260/1 Being near the Land and a Gale of Wind coming off from Sea..a Ship cannot claw it off. Ibid. 302/1 They could not claw off the Shore. 1696 Phil. Trans. XIX. 352 When Shipping come into the Bay between the Spurn and Winterton, they can hardly claw it of (as Sea men phrase it) with Northerly and Easterly Winds. 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1789), Ranger le vent, to claw the wind, or haul close to the wind. 1772–84 Cook Voy. (1790) IV. 1366 That ship could best claw off the land. 1833 Marryat P. Simple xv, We were forced to carry on at all risks, that we might claw off shore. 1837 ― Dog-fiend v, We were off the Texel..with the coast under our lee, clawing off under storm canvas. 1875 ‘Mark Twain’ in Atlantic Feb. 217, I..began to claw the boat away from the danger. 1923 R. D. Paine Comr. Rolling Ocean xii. 202 An inch at a time, as you might say, she [sc. the ship] was clawing off a lee shore. |
† 8. To strike with hoofs, paws, or hands; to box, beat.
Obs. exc. dial. to claw up his mittens: to give him the finishing stroke (
Gloss. to
Scott).
| 1584 R. Scot Discov. Witchcr. iii. xvi. 52 He, counterfeiting Aesops asse, claweth the pope with his heeles. c 1690 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Claw'd-off, lustily lasht. 1769 in Chambers Scot. Song (1829) 43 The lads began to claw, then. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. xxiv, ‘He claws up their mittans’. Mod. Sc. I'll claw your lugs; I'll claw his chafts. |
† 9. to claw away, off:
a. to rate soundly, scold, revile.
Obs.| a 1704 R. Lestrange (J.), The jade Fortune is to be clawed away, if you should lose it. a 1727 Bp. Nicolson Let. Yates (T.), Mr. Baxter..claws off the episcopal party as a set of Cassandrian priests. 1812 C. K. Sharpe in Corr. (1888) I. 544 You should claw her off soundly in a note or in the preface. |
† b. To complete or despatch with speed.
Obs. or
dial.| 1701 Miège Fr. Dict., To claw it off, or claw it away..faire une chose avec empressement, en faire une pronte depêche: I clawed it off to-day, or I worked very hard. |