paw
English
editPronunciation
edit- (UK) enPR: pô, IPA(key): /pɔː/
Audio (UK): (file) - Rhymes: -ɔː
- (US) enPR: pô, IPA(key): /pɔ/
- (cot–caught merger) enPR: pä, IPA(key): /pɑ/
Audio (US): (file) - (General Australian) IPA(key): /poː/
- Homophones: poor (non-rhotic, pour–poor merger); pore, pour (non-rhotic, horse–hoarse merger); par (non-rhotic, cot–caught merger, father-bother merger); pa (cot–caught merger, father-bother merger)
- Hyphenation: paw
Etymology 1
editFrom 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”)). More at put.
Noun
editpaw (plural paws)
- The soft foot of a mammal or other animal, generally a quadruped, that has claws or nails; comparable to a human hand or foot.
- (humorous) A hand.
- Get your grubby paws off my things!
Coordinate terms
editDerived terms
editTranslations
edit
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Verb
editpaw (third-person singular simple present paws, present participle pawing, simple past and past participle pawed)
- (of an animal) To go through something (such as a garbage can) with paws.
- (of an animal) To gently push on something with a paw.
- (of an animal) To draw the forefoot along the ground; to beat or scrape with the forefoot.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Job 39:21:
- He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in his strength: he goeth on to meet the armed men.
- (by extension) To touch someone in a sexual way.
- Synonym: grope
- 1997 August 17, Robert Spector, misc.fitness.weights (Usenet):
- 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 October 26, Amy McWilliams, quoting Verbotene, rec.arts.tv.soaps.abc (Usenet):
- 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?
- 2002 July 18, Lurker Dave, rec.arts.comics.marvel.universe (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?
- 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[1], Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 14 June 2018:
- 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.
- 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[2], →ISSN:
- 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.
- (by extension) To clumsily dig through something.
- (transitive, dated) To flatter.
Translations
edit
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See also
editEtymology 2
editThe word probably has an origin in baby talk: see ‘pa’.
Noun
editpaw (plural paws)
- (nonstandard or rustic) Father; pa.
Derived terms
editRelated terms
editAnagrams
editJingpho
editEtymology
editBorrowed from Burmese ဖော့ (hpau.).
Noun
editpaw
References
editKashubian
editAlternative forms
editEtymology
editBorrowed from Polish paw. Doublet of fau, a form borrowed from German.
Pronunciation
editNoun
editpaw m animal (diminutive pawiã or pawiątkò)
Further reading
editLower Sorbian
editEtymology
editUltimately from Latin pavō. Cognates within Slavic include Upper Sorbian paw, Polish paw, Czech páv, Slovene pav, and Russian павли́н (pavlín).
Pronunciation
editNoun
editpaw (feminine pawa)
- peacock (pheasant of one of the genera Pavo and Afropavo)
Declension
editFurther reading
edit- Muka, Arnošt (1921, 1928) “paw”, in Słownik dolnoserbskeje rěcy a jeje narěcow (in German), St. Petersburg, Prague: ОРЯС РАН, ČAVU; Reprinted Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag, 2008
- Starosta, Manfred (1999) “paw”, in Dolnoserbsko-nimski słownik / Niedersorbisch-deutsches Wörterbuch (in German), Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag
Polish
editEtymology
editBorrowed from Old High German phāwe, from Latin pāvō.
Pronunciation
editNoun
editpaw m animal (female equivalent pawica)
- (male) peacock
- (colloquial) puke; vomit
Declension
editDerived terms
edit- chodzić jak paw impf
- puścić pawia pf, puszczać pawia impf
Further reading
edit- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/ɔː
- Rhymes:English/ɔː/1 syllable
- English terms with homophones
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Frankish
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English humorous terms
- English terms with usage examples
- English verbs
- English terms with quotations
- English transitive verbs
- English dated terms
- English nonstandard terms
- English rustic terms
- en:Male family members
- Jingpho terms borrowed from Burmese
- Jingpho terms derived from Burmese
- Jingpho lemmas
- Jingpho nouns
- Kashubian terms borrowed from Polish
- Kashubian terms derived from Polish
- Kashubian doublets
- Kashubian terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Kashubian/af
- Rhymes:Kashubian/af/1 syllable
- Kashubian lemmas
- Kashubian nouns
- Kashubian masculine nouns
- Kashubian animal nouns
- csb:Fowls
- Lower Sorbian terms derived from Latin
- Lower Sorbian terms with IPA pronunciation
- Lower Sorbian lemmas
- Lower Sorbian nouns
- dsb:Fowls
- Polish terms borrowed from Old High German
- Polish terms derived from Old High German
- Polish terms derived from Latin
- Polish 1-syllable words
- Polish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Polish terms with audio links
- Rhymes:Polish/af
- Rhymes:Polish/af/1 syllable
- Polish lemmas
- Polish nouns
- Polish masculine nouns
- Polish animal nouns
- Polish colloquialisms
- pl:Bodily fluids
- pl:Fowls
- pl:Male animals
- pl:Medical signs and symptoms