Meaning

(archaic) The stomach, especially of an animal..

Definitions by Sense

1. (archaic) The stomach, especially of an animal.
2. The upper digestive tract (where food enters the body), especially the mouth and jaws of a fearsome and ravenous creature; craw.
3. (slang, derogatory) The mouth.
4. Any large, insatiable or perilous opening.
5. (obsolete, uncountable) Appetite; inclination.
6. The swim bladder of a fish, especially when used as food in Chinese cuisine.
7. (dialect, colloquial) Mother.
8. A gull.

Example Sentences

So Death shall be deceav'd his glut, and with us two / Be forc'd to satisfie his Rav'nous Maw.

To save poor lambkins from the eagle's maw

“I saw the opening maw of hell, With endless pains and sorrows there; Which none but they that feel can tell— Oh, I was plunging to despair.

Shut your maw!

She fumbled with her bag, and produced from its little maw a scented handkerchief.

Adam requires a touch of feminine lace and a whisper of diaphanous silk, not a direct vision of the gaping maw of the human vulva.

One two! I was born in a cross-fire hurricane. And I howled at the maw in the drivin' rain. But it's all right now, in fact, it's a gas. But it's all right. I'm Jumpin' Jack Flash. It's a gas, gas, gas.

Unless you had more maw to do me good.

Word Forms

• maws

Synonyms for maw

Related Words

When Should You Use Maw?

Use maw when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.

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