: 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
Examples of maw in a Sentence
the gaping maw of the tiger
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What kind of people back a government that feeds an ally into the maw of Russian authoritarian expansionism and then blames the victim for it?—Matt Robison, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 Apr. 2025 Standing in the gaping maw of a garage is an Adonis, the bodybuilder Killian Maddox (Jonathan Majors).—Doreen St. Félix, New Yorker, 5 Apr. 2025 Since February, and have blocked these borrowers' path out of default and are now feeding them into the maw of the government debt collection machine.—Aliss Higham, MSNBC Newsweek, 22 Apr. 2025 In their passionate, fiery maw, there’s little room to do anything else, let alone be present with others.—Big Think, 8 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for maw
Word History
Etymology
Middle English, from Old English maga; akin to Old High German mago stomach, Lithuanian makas purse
First Known Use
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Time Traveler
The first known use of maw was
before the 12th century
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