maw

plural maws

1. countableuncountableThe upper digestive tract (where food enters the body), especially the mouth and jaws of an animal.

   To save poor lambkins from the eagle's maw

   1818, John Keats, “(please specify the page)”, in Endymion: A Poetic Romance, London: […] T[homas] Miller, […] for Taylor and Hessey, […], →OCLC

   1 more example

   “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.

   1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 9, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC

   1. countableslanguncountablelifestyleThe mouth and jaws of a furry.

      […] / As you lift your shirt I'm closer / grab me by the maw into your arm- // […] / Sniff it with my maw I / […] / Smelling all of you its / […] / Getting me hard gimme more / […] / more more

      2025 February 14, Pent Up Puppy, “PITS”, in FURFAG, archived from the original on 23 Feb 2025

2. countablederogatoryslanguncountableThe mouth.

   Shut your maw!

   1 more example

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

   1920, Katherine Mansfield [pseudonym; Kathleen Mansfield Murry], “The Escape”, in Bliss and Other Stories, London: Constable & Company, published 1920, →OCLC, page 273

   Synonyms: trap, yap

3. countablefigurativelyuncountableAny large, insatiable or perilous opening.

   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.

   1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 23

   1 more example

   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.

   2011 October 11, “Jumping Jack Flash (Live 1973)” (track 14), in Brussels Affair (Live 1973), performed by The Rolling Stones

4. obsoleteuncountableAppetite; inclination.

   Unless you had more maw to do me good.

   1607 (first performance), Francis Beaumont, “The Knight of the Burning Pestle”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1679, →OCLC, Act I, scene i

5. countableuncountableThe swim bladder of a fish, especially when used as food in Chinese cuisine.

   Fish maw (swim bladder) is easily obtainable from your local fishmonger[.]

   2010 08, Eddie Dowd, Traditional Chinese Medicine and Fertility Treatment, Paragon Publishing, →ISBN, page 150

   3 more examples

   fish maw: The buoyancy bladder of a fish similar in appearance to the mammalian lung. The maw of the conger pike is used in Chinese cooking and is usually sold in dried form which needs reconstituting for about 3 hours and treating with[…]

   1998, Charles Gordon Sinclair, International Dictionary of Food and Cooking, Taylor & Francis, →ISBN, page 203

   Fish maw is the commercial term for the dried swim bladders of large fish like sturgeon. Fish maw has no fishy taste and absorbs the flavors of other ingredients.

   2009 April 28, Teresa M. Chen, A Tradition of Soup: Flavors from China's Pearl River Delta, North Atlantic Books, →ISBN, page 70

   [...] fish maw is light, white in color, and has a spongy texture. Dried fish maw is tasteless which makes it a good complementary addition to many dishes since it can absorb the flavors of other ingredients when it is cooked with other food[…]

   2020 May 12, K. Gopakumar, Balagopal Gopakumar, Health Foods from Ocean Animals, CRC Press, →ISBN, page 172

6. archaiccountableuncountableThe stomach, especially of an animal.

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

   1667, John Milton, “(please specify the page number)”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC

plural maws

1. colloquialdialectalMother.

plural maws

1. A gull.
2. LewisslangA person from a rural area of the Isle of Lewis, i.e. outwith Stornoway; a country bumpkin.

   Antonyms: townie

plural MAWs

1. abbreviationderogatoryinformalinitialismInitialism of model, actress, whatever: a young woman without much talent who attains celebrity through physical attractiveness

   Through his Hollywood connections he filled out the ranks of our parties with troops of assorted aspiring starlets, production assistants and thrillseeking party dolls—MAWs (“Model/Actress/Whatever”).

   2013, B. Hesse Pflingger, Fonko on the Carpet

   2 more examples

   Tamara was one of the original wild-child tribe - up to now, famous mainly for being famous. She has done a quantity of high-profile dabbling in modelling, acting, television and journalism (file under MAW - Model, Actress, Whatever - or WAIF - Why Am I Famous?)

   1996 October 19, Hester Lacey, “She's left her wild-child self behind, learned from her multitude of mistakes and even got a proper job. So why do we hate her?”, in The Independent

   Next to them, you spot what can only be a director's assistant. He's dressed very casually, jeans and a black T-shirt and he uses his tenuous connection to true Hollywood power to flirt with the most attractive MAWs (Model-Actress-Whatever) […]

   2001, Bill Robinson, Ceridwen Morris, It's All Your Fault: How To Make It as a Hollywood Assistant, page 33

plural Maws

1. A surname.