Paw

Pronunciation

• enPR: pô, IPA: /pɔː/
• Rhymes: -ɔː
• Homophones: poor (in non-rhotic accents), pore (in non-rhotic accents), pour (in non-rhotic accents)
• Hyphenation: paw (one syllable)

Alternative forms

• pa

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

Full definition of paw

Noun

1. (nonstandard or rural) Father; pa.

Synonyms

• (father:) pawpaw, pa, papa, father, dad, daddy, pappy

Hypernyms

• (father:) parent

Hyponyms

• (father:) step-paw

Coordinate terms

• maw, brother, sis/sissy

Derived terms

• pawpaw

Related terms

• pa

Pronunciation

• UK enPR: pô, IPA: /pɔː/
• Rhymes: -ɔː
• US enPR: pô, IPA: /pÉ”/
• cot-caught enPR: pä, IPA: /pÉ‘/
• Homophones: poor (in non-rhotic accents), pore (in non-rhotic accents), pour (in non-rhotic accents), pa (with caught-cot merger)
• Hyphenation: paw (one syllable)

Middle English pawe, from Old French poue, poe, from Old Low Franconian *pōta (compare Dutch poot, Low German Pote, German Pfote), from *pōton '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'), Ancient Greek "πους". 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.
2. (humorous) A hand.Get your grubby paws off my things!

Synonyms

• (foot of a mammal:) hand, foot

Hypernyms

• (foot of a mammal:) limb extremity

Meronyms

• claw

Holonyms

• limb

Coordinate terms

• hoof, talon

Derived terms

• paw (verb)
• pawprint(s)
• catpaw

Related terms

• possibly German Pfote
• cat's paw

Pronunciation

• enPR: pô, IPA: /pɔː/
• Rhymes: -ɔː
• Homophones: poor (in non-rhotic accents), pore (in non-rhotic accents), pour (in non-rhotic accents)
• Hyphenation: paw (one syllable)

From the noun paw, meaning an animal's hand or foot.

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.
4. (by extension, of a human) To touch someone (with the hands) in a sexual way.
• August 17 1997, Robert Spector, in misc.fitness.weights: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.
• October 26 1997, Verbotene, quoted by Amy McWilliams, in rec.arts.tv.soaps.abc: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?
• July 18 2002, Lurker Dave, in rec.arts.comics.marvel.universe: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?
5. (by extension, of a human) To clumsily dig through something.

Hypernyms

• (to go through something with paws) handle
• (to gently push on something) touch

Anagrams

• PWA
• WAP
• WPA