talon

Meaning

  1. A sharp, hooked claw of a bird of prey or other predatory animal.
  2. One of certain small prominences on the hind part of the face of an elephant's tooth.
  3. A kind of moulding, concave at the bottom and convex at the top; an ogee. (When the concave part is at the top, it is called an inverted talon.)
  4. The shoulder of the bolt of a lock on which the key acts to shoot the bolt.
  5. The remaining stock of undealt cards.
  6. (historical) A document that could be detached and presented in exchange for a block of further coupons on a bond, when the original block had been used up.

Frequency

21k
Pronounced as (IPA)
/ˈtælən/
Etymology

In summary

From Middle English talon, taloun, from Old French talon (“heel, spur”), from Medieval Latin tālōnem, from Vulgar Latin *tālōnis, from Latin tālus (“ankle”).

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