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maw

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maw

1  [maw]
Use maw in a Sentence
–noun
1. the mouth, throat, or gullet of an animal, esp. a carnivorous mammal.
2. the crop or craw of a fowl.
3. the stomach, esp. that of an animal.
4. a cavernous opening that resembles the open jaws of an animal: the gaping maw of hell.
5. the symbolic or theoretical center of a voracious hunger or appetite of any kind: the ravenous maw of Death.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME mawe, OE maga; c. D maag, G Magen, ON magi
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maw

2  [maw]
–noun Informal.
mother.
Origin:
var. of ma
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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maw   (mô)   
n.  

  1. The mouth, stomach, jaws, or gullet of a voracious animal, especially a carnivore.

  2. The opening into something felt to be insatiable: "I saw the opening maw of hell" (Herman Melville).


[Middle English mawe, from Old English maga.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
maw [mɔ]

  1. tv. & in.
    to kiss and pet; to smooch. (Probably from maul.) : Come on, don't maw me. You've been watching too many movies—or two few. , Let's go out somewhere and maw.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

maw 
O.E. maga "stomach" (of men and animals), from P.Gmc. *magon (cf. O.Fris. maga, O.N. mag, Du. maag, Ger. Magen "stomach"), perhaps cognate with Welsh megin "bellows," Lith. makas, O.C.S. mosina "bag, pouch."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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