Library / English Dictionary

JAW

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Holding device consisting of one or both of the opposing parts of a tool that close to hold an object

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("jaw" is a kind of...):

holding device (a device for holding something)

Holonyms ("jaw" is a part of...):

alligator clip; bulldog clip (a clip with a spring that closes the metal jaws)

chuck (a holding device consisting of adjustable jaws that center a workpiece in a lathe or center a tool in a drill)

pair of pliers; pliers; plyers (a gripping hand tool with two hinged arms and (usually) serrated jaws)

bench vise; vise (a holding device attached to a workbench; has two jaws to hold workpiece firmly in place)

spanner; wrench (a hand tool that is used to hold or twist a nut or bolt)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The part of the skull of a vertebrate that frames the mouth and holds the teeth

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Hypernyms ("jaw" is a kind of...):

bone; os (rigid connective tissue that makes up the skeleton of vertebrates)

Meronyms (parts of "jaw"):

alveolar arch (the part of the upper or lower jawbones in which the teeth are set)

alveolar process; alveolar ridge; gum ridge (a ridge that forms the borders of the upper and lower jaws and contains the sockets of the teeth)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "jaw"):

jawbone; jowl; lower jaw; lower jawbone; mandible; mandibula; mandibular bone; submaxilla (the jaw in vertebrates that is hinged to open the mouth)

maxilla; maxillary; upper jaw; upper jawbone (the jaw in vertebrates that is fused to the cranium)

chop (a jaw)

Holonyms ("jaw" is a part of...):

skull (the bony skeleton of the head of vertebrates)

Derivation:

jaw (chew (food); to bite and grind with the teeth)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The bones of the skull that frame the mouth and serve to open it; the bones that hold the teeth

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Hypernyms ("jaw" is a kind of...):

feature; lineament (the characteristic parts of a person's face: eyes and nose and mouth and chin)

Holonyms ("jaw" is a part of...):

face; human face (the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear)

Derivation:

jaw (chew (food); to bite and grind with the teeth)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Censure severely or angrily

Example:

The customer dressed down the waiter for bringing cold soup

Synonyms:

bawl out; berate; call down; call on the carpet; chew out; chew up; chide; dress down; have words; jaw; lambast; lambaste; lecture; rag; rebuke; remonstrate; reprimand; scold; take to task; trounce

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "jaw" is one way to...):

criticise; criticize; knock; pick apart (find fault with; express criticism of; point out real or perceived flaws)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "jaw"):

castigate; chasten; chastise; correct; objurgate (censure severely)

brush down; tell off (reprimand)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s PP

Sense 2

Meaning:

Talk incessantly and tiresomely

Synonyms:

jaw; rattle on; yack; yack away; yap away

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "jaw" is one way to...):

mouth; speak; talk; utter; verbalise; verbalize (express in speech)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sense 3

Meaning:

Talk socially without exchanging too much information

Example:

the men were sitting in the cafe and shooting the breeze

Synonyms:

chaffer; chat; chatter; chew the fat; chit-chat; chitchat; claver; confab; confabulate; gossip; jaw; natter; shoot the breeze; visit

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "jaw" is one way to...):

converse; discourse (carry on a conversation)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "jaw"):

jawbone; schmoose; schmooze; shmoose; shmooze (talk idly or casually and in a friendly way)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sense 4

Meaning:

Chew (food); to bite and grind with the teeth

Example:

The cows were masticating the grass

Synonyms:

chew; jaw; manducate; masticate

Classified under:

Verbs of eating and drinking

Hypernyms (to "jaw" is one way to...):

grate; grind (make a grating or grinding sound by rubbing together)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "jaw"):

champ; chomp (chew noisily)

champ (chafe at the bit, like horses)

gum; mumble (grind with the gums; chew without teeth and with great difficulty)

chaw (chew without swallowing)

crunch; munch (chew noisily)

gnaw (bite or chew on with the teeth)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

jaw (the part of the skull of a vertebrate that frames the mouth and holds the teeth)

jaw (the bones of the skull that frame the mouth and serve to open it; the bones that hold the teeth)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Always proceeding from a rigid mouth and closed teeth, as if the jaw were locked and the face frozen up in pain.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

The English Staffordshire Bull Terrier is a powerful and muscular dog, with a broad head and very strong jaws.

(English Staffordshire Terrier, NCI Thesaurus)

But the man, shifting the club from right to left, coolly caught him by the under jaw, at the same time wrenching downward and backward.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

The findings also indicate that the last common ancestor between sharks and other types of jawed vertebrates must have existed much earlier than previously thought — by more than 17 million years.

(Ancient sharks likely more diverse than previously thought, National Science Foundation)

It is more often intraosseous and less frequently extraosseous and occurs in the jaw.

(Dentinogenic Ghost Cell Tumor, NCI Thesaurus)

The disease may affect the jaw, central nervous system, bowel, kidneys, ovaries, or other organs.

(Burkitt lymphoma, NCI Dictionary)

A thin, broad, quadrilateral muscle that lies within the interval between the jaw (maxilla and mandible) on the side of the face.

(Buccinator, NCI Thesaurus)

When Dorothy presently asked him a question the Tin Woodman could not open his mouth, for his jaws were tightly rusted together.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

It has a broad, powerful head, short muzzle, and very strong jaws.

(American Staffordshire Terrier, NCI Thesaurus)

One set stimulated prey pursuit behavior, such as stalking, and the other stimulated the animal to use its jaw and neck muscles.

(Geneticists produce laser-activated killer mice, Wikinews)