maw

1
[ maw ]
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noun
  1. the mouth, throat, or gullet of an animal, especially a carnivorous mammal.

  2. the crop or craw of a fowl.

  1. the stomach, especially that of an animal.

  2. a cavernous opening that resembles the open jaws of an animal: the gaping maw of hell.

  3. the symbolic or theoretical center of a voracious hunger or appetite of any kind: the ravenous maw of Death.

Origin of maw

1
before 900; Middle English mawe,Old English maga; cognate with Dutch maag,German Magen,Old Norse magi

Words that may be confused with maw

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Other definitions for maw (2 of 2)

maw2
[ maw ]

nounInformal.

Origin of maw

2
Variant of ma

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use maw in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for maw

maw

/ (mɔː) /


noun
  1. the mouth, throat, crop, or stomach of an animal, esp of a voracious animal

  2. informal the mouth or stomach of a greedy person

Origin of maw

1
Old English maga; related to Middle Dutch maghe, Old Norse magi

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012