jaw

Pluraljaws

Formsjaws, jawing, jawed

1. 1
   nouncountable

   One of the bones forming the frame of the mouth, in which the teeth are usually set.

   The surgeon carefully reset the patient's fractured jaw.

   Crocodiles have powerful jaws lined with rows of sharp teeth.

   Similarmandible, jawbone

   Note

   The bony sense that the tool, the sail and the snooker table all borrow. Middle English jawe or jowe, from the 14th century, covered both the jaw and the sides of the lower face. Its deeper origin is disputed; one line runs through Anglo-Norman jowe to Old French joe, "cheek; jaw". The Scots words for waves and splashes are a separate word altogether, sharing only the spelling.

2. 2
   nouncountable

   The lower part of the face, under the mouth.

   She rested her jaw on one hand while she listened to the lecture.

   The boxer took a hard hit to the jaw in the final round.

   Similarchin

   Note

   Here the jaw is the visible part of the face, and it is the part that drops. His jaw dropped in amazement is the stock way to say someone was astonished. The image stretches easily: Chappell Roan's "Pink Pony Club" (2020) pushes it further, picturing jaws that have dropped as far as they can go. Use the dropping jaw for surprise, never for sadness or fear.

3. 3
   nouncountable

   One of a pair of opposing parts that move toward or away from each other to grasp or crush something between them.

   Each jaw of the wrench grips one flat side of the nut.

   The crusher's steel jaws can pulverize solid rock in a single pass.

4. 4
   nounfigurativelycountableplural

   An opening or entrance that resembles an animal's mouth in form or action; a mouth-like way in.

   The mine's entrance gaped like a great jaw in the hillside.

   Travelers seemed to vanish into the jaws of the mountain pass.

   Similarmaw, mouth, opening, entrance

   Note

   Mostly a plural, and mostly a figure: the jaws of death, the jaws of darkness, the jaws of a pass. The image is of something that opens to swallow, so it suits entrances that feel threatening or final. The singular is possible, but the fixed phrases all take jaws, and they read naturally only in that form.

5. 5
   nouncountable

   A component whose notch or fork is designed to keep an object in position.

   The jaw on the camera mount grips the tripod head so it won't slip.

   A forked jaw at the end of the lever cradles the rotating shaft.

   Similarclamp, grip, fork

6. 6
   nouncountable

   A notch or opening cut into a part or surface.

   Fit the peg into the jaw at the edge of the plank.

   The gate swung from a hinge set into a narrow jaw in the post.

   Similarnotch, slot, recess, groove

7. 7
   verbcolloquialintransitive

   To talk or chat, especially in a relaxed, informal way.

   The old friends jaw about politics whenever they run into each other.

   He'll jaw with anyone who stops long enough to listen.

   Similarchat, talk, chatter, gab, natter

8. 8
   verbtransitive

   To attack or abuse someone by scolding them.

   Critics jaw the mayor for every small mistake he makes.

   He jawed his assistant loudly in front of the whole office.

   Similarscold, berate, lambaste, harangue, upbraid

   Oppositepraise, commend

   Note

   The transitive verb takes the person scolded as its object, and the cause of the scolding follows with about. Ethel Lina White's The Spiral Staircase (1933) has Lady Warren "always jawing him about it." The progressive suits it well, because jawing suggests nagging that goes on and on. It is the verbal counterpart of the noun for insolent talk.

9. 9
   verbintransitive

   To scold; to make a loud, complaining clamor.

   The crowd jawed and booed at the referee's call.

   Customers jaw constantly whenever the prices go up.

   Similarcomplain, grumble, gripe, carp, clamor

   Note

   Without an object, the scolding becomes a two-way row. Tobias Smollett's Roderick Random (1748) has a sleeper and a lieutenant trading oaths until "they jawed together," and that phrase captures the mutual clamor. Compare the transitive verb, where one party scolds and the other has to take it.

10. 10
    nouncountable

    The curved part of the cushion marking the entry to a pocket on a billiards or snooker table.

    The red rattled in the jaws of the corner pocket before finally dropping.

    She lined up the shot perfectly but clipped the jaw and missed.

    Note

    Snooker usually speaks of the jaws of a pocket, in the plural, because the cushion curves in on both sides of the opening. A ball that catches one can rattle there instead of dropping. The game has turned that mishap into a verb of its own, so the place and the failure share one word.

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