Definition of MAW

maw

Plural: maws

Noun

  • informal terms for the mouth
  • The stomach, especially of an animal.
  • The upper digestive tract (where food enters the body), especially the mouth and jaws of a fearsome and ravenous creature; craw.
  • The mouth.
  • Any large, insatiable or perilous opening.
  • Appetite; inclination.
  • The swim bladder of a fish, especially when used as food in Chinese cuisine.
  • Mother.
  • A gull.

Verb

Verb Forms: mawed, mawn, mawing, maws

  • To cut grass or grain with a scythe; to mow.

Examples

  • He wanted to maw down his opponent’s lead with a big word.
  • Shut your maw!

Origin / Etymology

From Middle English mawe, maghe, maȝe, from Old English maga (“stomach; maw”), from Proto-West Germanic *magō, from Proto-Germanic *magô (“belly; stomach”), from Proto-Indo-European *mak-, *maks- (“bag, bellows, belly”).
Cognates
Cognate with West Frisian mage, Dutch maag (“stomach; belly”), German Low German Maag, German Magen (“stomach”), Danish mave,
Norwegian mage (“stomach”), Swedish mage (“stomach; belly”), and also with Welsh megin (“bellows”), archaic Russian мошна́ (mošná, “pocket, bag”), Lithuanian mãkas (“purse”), Finnish maha (“stomach”), Estonian magu (“stomach”).

Synonyms

cakehole, gob, hole, trap, yap

Scrabble Score: 8

maw: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
maw: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
maw: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 9

maw: valid Words With Friends Word