maw

noun \ ˈmȯ \

|Updated on: 13 Jun 2018

Examples: maw in a Sentence

Definition of maw

1 : the receptacle into which food is taken by swallowing:

a : stomach

b : crop

2 a : the throat, gullet, or jaws especially of a voracious animal

the gaping maw of the tiger

b : something suggestive of a gaping maw

the dark maw of the cave

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Examples of maw in a Sentence

the gaping maw of the tiger

Recent Examples of maw from the Web

That was just to escape the maw and has nothing to do with the ship being fast in general or about navigating a course in the shortest possible distance.

— dan gvozden, The Hollywood Reporter, "74 'Star Wars' Questions 'Solo' Insisted on Answering," 1 June 2018
Cars, swallowed whole, have sunk into gaping maws as if on a disaster movie set.

— howard cohen, miamiherald, "'Sinkhole fiasco' plagues Florida neighborhood, as a dozen holes open in the ground | Miami Herald," 2 May 2018
Height And now, my last piece of good advice: Never make a sandwich whose height exceeds the diameter of your yawning maw.

— james p. dewan, chicagotribune.com, "Does your sandwich pass the eatability test?," 18 Apr. 2018
Like the Auris, the Corolla wears Toyota’s gaping-maw grille perhaps better than any recent model.

— steve siler, Car and Driver, "2019 Toyota Corolla Hatchback: iM Just a Corolla Now," 23 Mar. 2018
Fueled by agents and league executives pushing misinformation into the maw of social media, the lead up to this draft was like watching a constant game of corporate cat-and-mouse play out on a Twitter timeline.

— joseph goodman, AL.com, "NFL Draft 2018: The last moments of a different life," 27 Apr. 2018
Some drivers admire the aggressive maw and the visual effect of bearing down on the road.

— john scott lewinski, Ars Technica, "A 5-liter V8 in a world of small-capacity turbos: The 2018 Lexus GS F," 8 Apr. 2018
In these cases, matter from the star falls into its ultradense partner, and the swirling gas forms what's known as an accretion disk around the black hole's maw.

— National Geographic, "Thousands of Black Holes May Lurk at the Galaxy's Center," 4 Apr. 2018
Siphoned off by the black hole’s gravitational pull, the star’s outer layers will pile up outside the black hole’s maw in a spiraling, steadily glowing disk.

— lee billings, Scientific American, "Astronomers Spy Swarms of Black Holes at Our Galaxy's Core," 4 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'maw.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of maw

Middle English, from Old English maga; akin to Old High German mago stomach, Lithuanian makas purse

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: before 12th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

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MAW Defined for English Language Learners

maw

noun

Definition of maw for English Language Learners

: the mouth, jaws, or throat of an animal

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See words that rhyme with maw Spanish Central: Translation of maw Nglish: Translation of maw for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of maw for Arabic speakers

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Definition of maw

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