caw
noun
the harsh, grating cry of the crow, raven, etc.
caw
American
[kaw]
/ kɔ /
noun
-
caws
plural
verb (used without object)
-
caws,
present (3rd person singular)
-
cawed,
past participle, past
-
cawing
present participle
caw
1
British
/ kɔː /
noun
verb
CAW
2
British
abbreviation
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
cawsimple
-
cawssimple
-
have cawedperfect
-
has cawedperfect
-
am cawingprogressive
-
are cawingprogressive
-
is cawingprogressive
-
have been cawingperfect progressive
-
has been cawingperfect progressive
Past
-
cawedsimple
-
had cawedperfect
-
was cawingprogressive
-
were cawingprogressive
-
had been cawingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of caw
First recorded in 1580–90; imitative
Explanation
To caw is to make a loud cry or call, like the sound a crow makes. There are few things spookier than hearing fifty crows caw in your yard at night. Many large birds caw as a way of communicating with each other, but crows and ravens are best known for making this particular cry. You can call the actual sound a caw as well. The word has been around since the 16th century, when it arose as an imitation of the noise itself.
Vocabulary lists containing caw
Essential Three-Letter Words, Part 3
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
This Was Our Pact
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Meyers was greeted each morning by a green parrot named Pesto, who became the shop’s mascot and would caw, “Hellllow!”
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 4, 2025
Carrion crows can count out loud, effectively calling “one, two, three” as they caw, researchers report today in Science.
From Science Magazine ● May 22, 2024
It’s in the caw of the crow above that the Ngarigo, the Indigenous people of the Snowy Mountains, hear the voices of ancestors.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 13, 2019
A few people are splashing in the water as seagulls swoop and caw overhead; groups of day-trippers eat ice cream on some modern steps by the beach.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 3, 2017
The occasional hollow caw of one raven to another.
From "The Adoration of Jenna Fox" by Mary E. Pearson
The site, which is currently almost completely demolished, is being renovated by social welfare group CAW Oost-Vlaanderen.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
The clothes loaned to the organisers - victim support group CAW East Brabant - include tracksuit bottoms, pyjamas and dresses.
From BBC ● Jan. 10, 2018
However, Lewenza said the CAW cannot sway companies looking to chase the lowest-cost manufacturing base.
From Reuters ● Feb. 3, 2012
“This strike is unfortunate -- not only for our members, but also for Air Canada passengers,” CAW President Ken Lewenza said in a statement.
From BusinessWeek ● Jun. 14, 2011
Mr. Tamba told her that he was the CAW chaperon going on the trip with us and that he would make sure that we returned to Sierra Leone at the end of the conference.
From "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier" by Ishmael Beah
One 16th Century tale sees Saint Peter trick Welshmen with the call caws bobi - Welsh for roasted cheese - which he said reflected the dish's cultural ties to Wales.
From BBC ● Jun. 6, 2025
Estrildid finch songs, Japanese quail calls, squirrel monkey caws and even the ultrasonic vocalizations of house mice were used for comparison in the study.
From Salon ● Jan. 8, 2024
As scientists collect terabytes on terabytes of whale clicks and crow caws, they're hoping that deep learning can find patterns and meaning in the sounds that human beings have always missed.
From Scientific American ● Sep. 19, 2023
On a recent evening, Lange motioned toward a mass of American crows bellowing their raucous caws as they perched on tree branches just outside the airport's boundaries.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 17, 2018
They marched alongside the stream as it fattened into a river, alert all the while to the constant sound track of caws, shrieks, growls, and croaks.
From "Beauty Queens" by Libba Bray
Blackbirds cawed from trees and flapped over block after block of destruction.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 10, 2025
Dierks Bentley’s stomps on his porch in Colorado jiggled the camera and an off-camera crow cawed at him.
From Washington Times ● Apr. 5, 2020
Among the hundreds of crows observed during the study, the majority merely cawed loudly and dive bombed at the corpse without touching it.
From New York Times ● Jul. 19, 2018
Crows in nearby trees cawed incessantly as the sisters considered what has happened here since the EPA arrived.
From Seattle Times ● May 24, 2010
When it saw Anya and Ivan crest the path’s top, it cawed and flapped its wings again.
From Anya and the Dragon by Sofiya Pasternack
Johnson pledges his devotion to tropes like cawing ravens and thunderous rainstorms while giving his various red herrings silly nicknames like “the knife robot” and “the clangy clunk.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 25, 2025
"These crows rise early and interrupt our sleep with their annoying squeals and cawing," Mombasa resident Victor Kimuli told the BBC.
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2024
A tender study of loss told from the perspectives of its mourning characters, “Grief Is the Thing With Feathers” also features passages from the consciousness of an enormous, cawing bird.
From New York Times ● Sep. 9, 2021
The noises of the Puget Sound filled the air: ship horns blowing, gulls cawing, music playing.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 20, 2021
As I looked around, a cloud of crows flew over me, straight for the woods in back of the barn, cawing their heads off.
From "Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer" by Kelly Jones
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
