| 释义 |
▪ 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.
a700Epinal Gloss. 29 Clauuo [so Erf. and Corpus]. c1000ælfric Gram. ix. 28 (Bosw.) Næᵹl oððe clawu, unguis. a1250Owl & Night. 153 Þu havest scharpe clawe. a1300Body & Soul 370 in Map's Poems (Mätz.) Scharpe clauwes, long nayled. a1400Morte Arth. 783 To bataile he [a bear] bownez him with bustous clowez. c1440Promp. Parv. 80 Claw or cle of a beste, ungula. c1530Ld. Berners Arth. Lyt. Bryt. (1814) 159 His nayles or clowes lenger then a fote. 1590Shakes. Mids. N. iv. ii. 43 His nailes..shall hang out for the Lions clawes. 1664Power Exp. Philos. i. 2 His [the Flea's] feet are slit into claws or talons. 1855Gosse 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.
a1000Phœnix 277 (Gr.) Fenix fyres lafe clam biclyppeþ. 1340Ayenb. 61 Bodyes of wyfman, and tayl of uisssse, and clauen of arn. 1590Spenser F.Q. ii. viii. 50 As a Bittur in the Eagles clawe. 1796H. 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. 1837Whewell 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.
c1000ælfric Lev. xi. 3 Þa nytenu þe hira clawe todælede beoþ. c1200Ormin 1225 Oxe gaþ o clofenn fot & shædeþþ hise clawwess. 1535Coverdale 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. 1544Phaër Regim. Lyfe (1560) I ij b, Goates clawes brent and poudred..or in stede of it shepes clawes. 1661Lovell 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.
c1386Chaucer Man of Law's T. 356 Me fro the feend and fro his clowes keepe. 1576Fleming Panoplie Ep. 185 After that he had aspired to principalitie, and had caught governement within his clawes. 1617Hieron Wks. (1619–20) II. 221 So subtill is the deuill to make roome for himselfe, when hee hath once got in his claw. 1664Butler Hud. ii. ii. 282 What's justice to a man, or laws, That never comes within their claws? 1790Cowper Lett. 26 Nov., I am happy that you have escaped from the claws of Euclid. 1884Pall Mall G. 23 Oct. 1/1 To draw the teeth and pare the claws of the Peers.
4. ‘Sometimes a hand, in contempt’ (J.).
1577Harrison England ii. vi. (1877) i. 151 Some of them doo suffer their iawes to go oft before their clawes. 1851Hawthorne 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.
c1000ælfric Hom. I. 542 (Bosw.) Sume wæron mid isenum clawum totorene. 1535Coverdale Jer. xvii. 1 Youre synne..is..grauen..with a penne of yron and with an Adamant clawe. 1609Holland Amm. Marcel. xxix. i. 355 After they had beene sore tormented with clawes [unguibus]. 1677Moxon Mech. Exerc. (1703) 124 Draw it out again with the Claw of the Hammer. 1707Lond. Gaz. No. 4338/4 Printed with a Horse-shoe, with Claws downward. 1816J. Smith Panorama Sc. & Art I. 15 Hammers made for the purpose of drawing nails, with claws. 1823J. Badcock Dom. Amusem. 203 A stand with three claws. 1851W. P. Snow Jrnl. Arct. Seas xii. 156 To hook the iron claws on to the outer edges of the ice ahead. a1877Knight Dict. Mech. I. 562/1 Claw,..a spur or talon projecting from a bolt or tumbler. 1911C. 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’. 1927E. 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. 1962B.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.
1794Martyn 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. 1835Lindley Introd. Bot. i. ii. §4 ⁋7 (L.) In..R. Œillet,..the petals consist wholly of claw. 1861Miss 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.
1841Gen. 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.
1902Connoisseur Jan. 55/1 It [sc. a wine cistern] is supported by four *claw-and-ball feet. 1906Westm. Gaz. 23 Jan. 2/1 Perfect specimens of claw-and-ball furniture. 1955Times 7 July 5/7 Carved tripods terminating in claw-and-ball feet (4 ft. high). 1960Claw and ball [see ball n.1 19 b].
1933Times 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. 1940Chambers's Techn. Dict. 167/1 Claw chisel, a chisel, having a 2-in.-long serrated cutting edge, used for rough-dressing building stone.
1904Goodchild & 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. 1930Engineering 21 Mar. 376/2 Reversal is effected by a claw clutch.
1823Mechanic's Mag. No. 18. 274 A *claw-feet pillar or stand.
1867Lowell 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. 1881Harper's Mag. Mar. 528/1 About 1700 the claw-foot side-boards, sofas and tables were generally used. 1901Dorland Med. Dict. (ed. 2), Claw-foot, atrophy and distortion of the foot. 1920Glasgow Herald 8 July 4 Foot-drop, corns and contracted toes, claw-foot. 1938L. MacNeice Earth Compels 45 The claw-foot table.
1667R. Hope 11 Mar. in Calendar State Papers Chas. II (ed. Green), *Claw-footed like a dog. 1858O. W. Holmes Aut. Breakf.-t. (1883) 19 Claw-footed chairs.
1769Falconer Dict. Marine (1789) C cciij b, A *claw-hammer used by shipwrights. 1878B. F. Taylor Between Gates 27 A youthful descendant of Ham, with a heel like a claw-hammer. 1881Harper's Mag. Sept. 556/2 Adoniram's coat was made in the style then called straight-bodied,..by the facetious called claw-hammer. 1888N.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. 1879Kingston Austral. Abroad i. 7 The tails of his claw-hammer coat drag on the ground. 1887F. 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. 1955in Halpert & Story Christmas Mumming in Newfoundland (1969) 282 Costumes used for disguise are listed: ‘claw-hammer coats’, hats, bonnets, [etc.].
1879Smiles G. Moore, Any man who had a stick leg or a club foot or a *claw hand thought himself fit to be a teacher.
1922Joyce Ulysses 698 Loo table with pillar and *claw legs.
1892J. Nasmith Students' Cotton Spinning 266 On the same arbor..is a *claw lever engaging with the ring grove.
1835–6Todd Cycl. Anat. I. 615/2 Beset with..*claw-like processes.
1828P. Cunningham N.S. Wales (ed. 3) II. 36 On the *claw-marks being discerned, they climb up by successive notches in the bank. 1920Chambers's Jrnl. 89/2 Two parallel lines of claw-marks.
1568Grafton Chron. II. 561 Certeine *Claw⁓poules & Parasites.
1897‘P. Warung’ Tales Old Régime 190 A feline *claw-scratch.
1795Herschel in Phil. Trans. LXXXV. 366 *Claw-screws..to confine and stretch the parts as they were seamed together.
1832G. Porter Porcelain & Gl. vi. 93 Similar to the leg and feet of a *claw table.
1657S. Purchas Pol. Flying-Ins. 50 The *claw-tailed Humble-Bee.
1891Pall 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.
c1000ælfric Gram. xxviii. (Z.) 170 Scalpo, ic clawe [v.r. clawiᵹe]. a1250Owl & Night. 154 No þu havest scharpe clawe Ne kepe ich noht þat þu me clawe. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. Prol. 154 He [the cat] wil..Cracche vs, or clowe vs, and in his cloches holde. c1440Promp. Parv. 80 Clawyn or cracchyn [1499 scratche]. 1547Boorde Brev. Health §292 A good payre of nayles, to crache and clawe. 1648Hunting of Fox 25 If we cannot claw, then must we dig them out. 1653R. Mather in Eliot & Mayhew Tears Repent. C 3 b, The Grounds that they have fenced in, and clawed and broken up. 1749Fielding Tom Jones xi. viii. (1840) 162/2, I have clawed the rascal: I have left the marks of my nails in his impudent face. 1818Scott Hrt. Midl. iv, ‘I would claw down the tolbooth door wi' my nails.’ 1884Leeds Mercury Weekly Supp. 15 Nov. 8/2 Five young kestrels..clawing one another vindictively.
b. To scrape.
1377Langl. 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]. 1602Shakes. Ham. v. i. 80 But Age..hath clawed [Ff. caught] me in his clutch. 1674N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 90 That which claws away world from about them, would, 'tis like, wring out their Planethood from within them. 1751Mrs. Delany Lett. Mrs. Dewes 67, I was clawed into the party out of civility. 1819Byron Juan i. clxxxv, If at that moment he had chanced to claw it [the sword]. a1863Thackeray D. Duval iv. (1869) 49 His hands..stretched out to claw other folks' money towards himself. 1942L. E. O. Charlton Britain at War 11 First steps to ‘clawing them down’... A cadet is learning how to handle a machine-gun. 1953Economist 21 Feb. 499/1 The Government would also make sure that..such tax relief was clawed back from surtax payers. 1957Ibid. 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. 1958Church Times 8 Aug. 3/4 Conditions are even clawing down decent people. 1959Observer 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. 1970Daily 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. 1971Times 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.
1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xvii. 188 Powere hem [the fingers] failleth To clucche or to clawe. 1850Mrs. 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. 1863Bates Nat. Amazons II. 57 [The sloth] raises his body..and claws around in search of a fresh foothold. 1863Kingsley 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.)
c1320Seuyn Sag. (W.) 925 He clew the bor on the rigge.. He clewe him eft upon the wombe; He fil adoun als a lombe. c1380Sir Ferumb. 5339 Wanne þe Ameral hym vnderstod, A clew ys heued. c1384Chaucer H. Fame 1702 With that about y clywe [Bodley, clew; Caxton, torned] myn hede. c1386― Wife's T. 84 If eny wight wold claw us on the galle. c1460J. Russell Bk. Nurture 279 in Babees Bk. (1868) 134 Youre hed ne bak ye claw, a fleigh as þaughe ye sought. 1532More Confut. Tindale Wks. 728/1 He began to studie a little, & clawe his head, and rubbe his forehead. 1572N. Roscarrock Prelim. Verses in Bossewell Armorie, The court brake vp, they claude their eares & parted with a trice. 1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, ii. iv. 282 Looke, if the wither'd Elder hath not his Poll claw'd like a Parrot. 1637Rutherford Lett. No. 138 (1862) I. 331 When he [Job] lay in the ashes, God was with him, clawing and curing his scabs. 1664Butler Hud. ii. ii. 74 Whether't be a Sin To claw and curry your own Skin. 1813E. Picken Poems II. 140 (Jam.) I..claw, owre soon, an auld man's pow.
b. intr.
1393Gower Conf. II. 93 He sitteth by the fire And claweth on his bare shankes. 1862Thornbury 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.
1515Barclay Egloges iv. (1570) C iij/3, I clawe oft where it doth not itche, To see ten beggers and half a dosen riche. 1562J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 70 Thou makest me claw where it itcheth not. 1589Puttenham 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.
c1394P. Pl. Crede 365 Whou þey curry kinges, & her back claweþ. c1460Towneley Myst. 109 And do noght but lakys and clowse hir toose. 1509Barclay Shyp Folys (1874) II. 29 He loueth to be flatered and clawed by the sleue. 1530Palsgr. 349 He claweth my toe, il me gratigne le orteil. a1541Wyatt Poet. Wks. (1861) 158 ‘Take heed of him that by the back thee claweth:’ For none is worse than is a friendly foe. 1597Bp. 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.
1549Coverdale Erasm. Par. 1st John 45 Certayne iugglinges of vayne pleasures to clawe the senses of the bodye withall. 1579Tomson Calvin's Serm. Tim. 468/1 Yet those men..would gladly haue their eares clawed with some vaine matter. 1655W. Gurnall Chr. in Arm. xvi. (1669) 64/2 The false Prophets pleasing words, with which they clawed Ahab's proud humour. 1681R. 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.
c1425Seven Sag. (P.) 984 Thus schaltou be clovyd alse With fykyl wordis & with false. 1553N. Grimalde Cicero's Offices i. (1558) 41 Nor suffer ourselves to bee clawed with flatterye. 1591Sylvester Du Bartas i. iv. (1641) 31/2 In courting Ladies, or in clawing Lords. 1599Shakes. Much Ado i. iii. 18, I must..laugh when I am merry, and claw no man in his humor. 1621Molle Camerar. Liv. Libr. i. xii. 39 Let no man..claw himselfe with the discourse of the nobilitie of his predecessors. 1628Wither Brit. Rememb. iii. 949 Whose Dedications Doe sooth and claw the times abominations. 1703J. Savage Lett. Antients xiv. 74, I shou'd seem to conspire with you, to claw one another. 1881Leicestersh. 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.
1531Tindale Expos. 1 John (1537) 72 We saye, clawe me, clawe y⊇. 1614T. Adams Devil's Banquet 64 Claw me, and I will claw thee: Winke at mine, and I will not see thy faults. 1637Heywood Dialogues xiv. 228 These two betwixt themselves use Homers phrase, Claw me, I'le claw thee; Let's live many dayes. 1653Gataker Vind. Annot. Jer. 36 If he would..claw Mr. Lihe a little, M.L. would claw him again. 1825Blackw. 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.
1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1673) 109 If they fawn and claw upon a man. c1645Howell Lett. (1650) II. 52 Here it is not the stile to claw and complement with the king. 1670Baxter 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.
1814Scott 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.
1514Visit. 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. 1630Prynne Anti-Armin. 89 A stegmaticall Impresse, which our Arminians shall neuer be able to claw off againe. 1668Dryden Sir M. Mar-all ii. i, I have not yet claw'd off your last ill Usage. 1748Richardson Clarissa (1811) VIII. 355 This..is a grief, he declares, that he shall never claw off. a1769Watty & 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.
1615T. 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. a1642Sir 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. 1696Phil. 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. 1769Falconer Dict. Marine (1789), Ranger le vent, to claw the wind, or haul close to the wind. 1772–84Cook Voy. (1790) IV. 1366 That ship could best claw off the land. 1833Marryat 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. 1923R. 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).
1584R. Scot Discov. Witchcr. iii. xvi. 52 He, counterfeiting Aesops asse, claweth the pope with his heeles. c1690B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Claw'd-off, lustily lasht. 1769in Chambers Scot. Song (1829) 43 The lads began to claw, then. 1818Scott 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.
a1704R. Lestrange (J.), The jade Fortune is to be clawed away, if you should lose it. a1727Bp. Nicolson Let. Yates (T.), Mr. Baxter..claws off the episcopal party as a set of Cassandrian priests. 1812C. 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.
1701Miège 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. |