devil's claw

noun

Anything considered ugly or potentially harmful resembling a claw in appearance or behavior

Similar
grapple plantwood spiderdevil's clawcommon unicorn plantcommon devil's clawelephant-tuskproboscis flowerram's horn
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Meanings

devil's claw1

noundevil's claw (plural devil's claws)

plural devil's claws

  1. Anything considered ugly or potentially harmful resembling a claw in appearance or behavior
  2. Anything considered ugly or potentially harmful resembling a claw in appearance or behavior:
    1. grapple plants (Harpagophytum spp., especially Harpagophytum procumbens), native to South Africa.
    2. mule grabs, unicorn plant (Proboscidea spp.)
    3. yellow unicorn plant (Ibicella lutea)
    4. catchbird trees (Pisonia spp.)
    5. catclaw acacia (Senegalia greggii, syn. Acacia greggii)
  3. nauticalA metal hook for grabbing a ship's anchor chain.

Devil's claw2

nounDevil's claw (plural Devil's claws)

plural Devil's claws

  1. A plant, Harpagophytum procumbens, native to southern Africa, whose tuberous roots are used in folk medicine to reduce pain.

    Synonyms: grapple plant, wood spider, devil's claw

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA plant, Harpagophytum procumbens, native to southern Africa, whose tuberous roots are used in folk medicine to reduce pain.

Similar
grapple plantwood spiderdevil's claw

More synonyms by meaning

nounannual of southern United States to Mexico having large whitish or yellowish flowers mottled with purple and a long curving beak

Similar
common unicorn plantcommon devil's clawelephant-tuskproboscis flowerram's hornProboscidea louisianica
Broader
herbherbaceous plant
Also see
devil's clawram's horn

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Translations

Greek αρπαγόφυτο
  • αρπαγόφυτο (arpagófyto)nasty, resembling a claw
Irish crobh an diabhail
  • crobh an diabhailnasty, resembling a claw
Japanese デビルズクロー
  • デビルズクロー (debiruzukurō)nasty, resembling a claw
Cite this entry
APA

devil's claw. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/devil's%20claw

MLA

“devil's claw.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/devil's%20claw. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “devil's claw,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/devil's%20claw.

Source: devil's claw on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.