jawed

1. 1
   adjective

   Possessing jaws; equipped with the hinged mouthparts used for biting and chewing.

   Jawed vertebrates can capture and process prey far more efficiently than jawless animals.

   The fossil record shows jawed creatures spreading rapidly through ancient seas.

   Oppositejawless

2. 2
   adjectivein compounds

   Possessing a jaw of a particular shape, size, or kind, typically indicated by a modifying word.

   The sculptor gave the statue a powerfully jawed, determined look.

   Lantern-jawed and gaunt, the old sailor gazed out to sea.

   Note

   A combining form more than a free word: it needs a partner that says what kind of jaw, as in lantern-jawed. Paired with a noun or adjective, it takes a hyphen, especially before a noun (a lantern-jawed sailor). After an adverb it stays open (powerfully jawed). Where the plain "having jaws" sense is a yes-or-no matter, this one describes.

3. 3
   verb

   Simple past tense and past participle of jaw.

   The old men jawed away on the porch until sunset.

   She had jawed with the clerk for so long that the line grew restless.

   Note

   A regular verb, so one form serves both the simple past and the perfect: they jawed all evening; she had jawed at him for an hour. In informal speech it means talked or chattered, but it can also mean scolded. In Scotland, water can be jawed, meaning poured out or splashed. A ball that has jawed has stuck in the jaws of a pocket. It shares its spelling with the "lantern-jawed" adjective.

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