paw

Meaning

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.

Verb

1. (transitive) Of an animal, to touch (something) with a paw.
2. (transitive) Of an animal, to dig through (something, such as a garbage can) with paws.
3. (transitive) Of an animal, to draw the forefoot along the ground; to beat or scrape with the forefoot.
4. (broadly, transitive) To touch (someone) in a sexual way.
5. (broadly, transitive) To clumsily dig (through something).
6. (dated, transitive) To flatter.

Synonyms

foot

🦶

leg

🦵

scratch

mitt

claw

hand

✋

shank

hoof

seduce

pad

talon

paws

manus

harass

father

👨‍👦

scrape

dad

👨‍👦

paw the ground

poppa

pops

signature

skin

smite

sweep

thumb

toe

touch

Father

👨‍👦

palm of hand

sole of foot

tread heavily

animal foot

stamp the foot

Pa

daddy-o

brush

clapperclaw

clutch

dada

daddy

👨‍👦

dig

finger

footprint

👣

grate

graze

handle

handwriting

limb

one

pa

Translations

patte

pata

Pfote

zampa

poot

been

🦵

pota

onderbeen

petge

🦵

gratter

crus

🦵

pata

Tatze

gamba

🦵

Pronounced as (IPA)

/pɔː/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: pawe

Cognate with Dutch: poot

Cognate with Low German: Pote

Cognate with German: Pfote

Cognate with Old English: potian

Cognate with Icelandic: pota

In summary

From 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”)). See more at put.