claw sth back
UK— phrasal verb with claw uk/klɔː/us/klɑː/verb [ I or T ]
to get possession of something again with difficulty:
The airline is beginning to claw back some of the business it lost after the bomb explosion.
If the government, for example, claws back money, it takes money back in one way that it has already given in another way:
We got a government grant for setting up our business, but they clawed it all back again in taxes.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Giving, bringing or getting back
- bring
- bring sth back
- claw
- go
- go back
- money-back
- non-returnable
- put
- put sth back
- recover
- redeem
- restore
- retake
- retrieve
- return
- reversion
- send
- send sth back
- take
- take sth back
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