Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A short digit that does not reach the ground, found on the feet of dogs and certain other mammals.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The rudimentary inner toe of the foot, especially the hind foot, of some dogs.
- noun The false hoof of deer and other ungulates.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun In any animal, esp. of the Herbivora, a rudimentary claw or small hoof not reaching the ground.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
vestigial digit ,hoof orclaw that does not reach the ground.
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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* Six toes with functioning three-boned dewclaw, allowing them to grip rocks and climb.
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Sure enough, after the four plantigrade toes, he went for the dewclaw.
grouse Diary Entry grouse 2006
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The dark pads unfolded into thick, clawed fingers; instead of a dewclaw, the thing had a thumb.
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She sucked up her spittle, rubbed her eyes, and raised the lids to reveal two cloudy white globes, as vacant of use as a dewclaw.
The Welkening Gregory Spencer 2004
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She sucked up her spittle, rubbed her eyes, and raised the lids to reveal two cloudy white globes, as vacant of use as a dewclaw.
The Welkening Gregory Spencer 2004
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She sucked up her spittle, rubbed her eyes, and raised the lids to reveal two cloudy white globes, as vacant of use as a dewclaw.
The Welkening Gregory Spencer 2004
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The prints are cloven, 6½ inches long, with signs of a dewclaw a digit above the true hoof.
The Field Guide to Wildlife Habitats of the Eastern United States Janine M. Benyus 1989
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The prints are cloven, 6½ inches long, with signs of a dewclaw a digit above the true hoof.
The Field Guide to Wildlife Habitats of the Eastern United States Janine M. Benyus 1989
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The prints are cloven, 6½ inches long, with signs of a dewclaw a digit above the true hoof.
The Field Guide to Wildlife Habitats of the Eastern United States Janine M. Benyus 1989
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Beneath a prowlike keelbone were lean yellow-skinned arms whose hands, evolved from talons, each bore three sharp-clawed fingers flanked by two thumbs, and a dewclaw on the inner wrist.
The Day Of Their Return Anderson, Poul, 1926- 1973
john commented on the word dewclaw
A small claw not reaching the ground, on the foot of some animals.
"Dog lovers need to keep an eye on dewclaws and remember to keep the nails trimmed." Gina Spadafori; Beware of Halloween Hazards for Animals; The Sacramento Bee (California); Oct 28, 2006.
- from A.Word.A.Day
October 25, 2007
chained_bear commented on the word dewclaw
Yeah, my dog caught her dewclaw nail on something once and we had to take her to the vet to have it treated.
Interestingly, the dewclaw isn't just the claw itself. It's the fleshy protuberance that the claw comes out of--perhaps a vestigial toe. At least, that's the way my vet and the vet techs were using the term, and I remember it because it was a cause of much confusion until we figured out that each of us was using the same term to mean different things.
Another good dog-related word is flews.
October 25, 2007
reesetee commented on the word dewclaw
Flews! C_b, maybe you should add it to your Creative Onomatopoeia list.
October 25, 2007
fbharjo commented on the word dewclaw
do claw clause
October 5, 2010