maw
noun
ˈmȯ 
1
: the receptacle into which food is taken by swallowing:
a
: stomach
b
: crop
2
a
: the throat, gullet, or jaws especially of a voracious animal
the gaping maw of the tiger
b
: something suggestive of a gaping maw
the dark maw of the cave
Example Sentences
the gaping maw of the tiger
Recent Examples on the Web But, when the source of the space debris—a monstrous U.F.O. that sucks humans and horses into its maw and eats them—makes its appearance, O.J. and Emerald are forced to fight it. 
Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 25 July 2022 Sometimes the detained simply disappear into the maw of the system, never to be found again. Allison Mccann, New York Times, 16 July 2022 Then two hikers wearing headlamps emerged from the cave’s dark maw. Bruce Upholt, Smithsonian Magazine, 6 July 2022 The next chore was squeezing goo from a tube into each dog’s maw. Zachariah Hughes, Anchorage Daily News, 10 Mar. 2021 Suddenly, all sounds drop away in the face of that silent maw. Christian Holub, EW.com, 16 Mar. 2022 Einstein’s insight led to a new conception of the cosmos, in which space-time could quiver, bend, rip, expand, swirl and even disappear forever into the maw of a black hole, an entity with gravity so strong that not even light could escape it. New York Times, 12 May 2022 He’d been scammed, swindled and sucked into the maw of the money machine that is the below-deck professional basketball world and spit out without so much as a place to live. Los Angeles Times, 31 Mar. 2022 The worms are drawn to anything out on the sand, capable of sensing vibrations from far away, and emerge from underneath their targets, the ground giving way to a gaping maw for anyone unfortunate enough to be in the area. Alison Willmore, Vulture, 12 Sep. 2021 See More
Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 25 July 2022 Sometimes the detained simply disappear into the maw of the system, never to be found again. Allison Mccann, New York Times, 16 July 2022 Then two hikers wearing headlamps emerged from the cave’s dark maw. Bruce Upholt, Smithsonian Magazine, 6 July 2022 The next chore was squeezing goo from a tube into each dog’s maw. Zachariah Hughes, Anchorage Daily News, 10 Mar. 2021 Suddenly, all sounds drop away in the face of that silent maw. Christian Holub, EW.com, 16 Mar. 2022 Einstein’s insight led to a new conception of the cosmos, in which space-time could quiver, bend, rip, expand, swirl and even disappear forever into the maw of a black hole, an entity with gravity so strong that not even light could escape it. New York Times, 12 May 2022 He’d been scammed, swindled and sucked into the maw of the money machine that is the below-deck professional basketball world and spit out without so much as a place to live. Los Angeles Times, 31 Mar. 2022 The worms are drawn to anything out on the sand, capable of sensing vibrations from far away, and emerge from underneath their targets, the ground giving way to a gaping maw for anyone unfortunate enough to be in the area. Alison Willmore, Vulture, 12 Sep. 2021 See More Word History
Etymology
Middle English, from Old English maga; akin to Old High German mago stomach, Lithuanian makas purse
First Known Use
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
maw
noun
as in mouth
literary the mouth, jaws, or throat of an animal the gaping maw of the tiger Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- mouth
- jaws
- gullet
- gob
- yap
- cakehole
- piehole
- muzzle
- chops
- trap
- mandible
- kisser
- maxilla
- mug
