claw v.
1. to fondle sexually, to masturbate a partner.
![]() | Worlde of Wordes n.p.: Fregare, to rub, to frigle, to frigge, to claw, to fret. | |
![]() | Alchemist IV iii: You shall [...] Be curried, claw’d, and flaw’d, and taw’d, indeed. | |
![]() | Pilgrim II i: Some pelting Rogue has watcht her hour of itching, And claw’d her, claw’d her. | |
![]() | Vow-breaker II i: You are ganging to your Lurden, that your Lurden may catch you by the crag, and claw you [...] till your guts gang haggergath . | |
![]() | ‘Daniel Cooper’ [song] The Fidler kist the Pipers Wife; the Blind-man sat and saw her, She lift up her Holland smock, and Daniel Cooper claw’d her. | |
![]() | Merry Muses (1964) 60: The carlin clew her wanton tail, Her wanton tail sae ready. | ‘Come rede me, dame’ in|
![]() | ‘The Lass o’ Liviston’ in Merry Songs and Ballads (1897) I 2534: I hae written in my contract, / To claw her wame, to claw her wame. |
2. (US Und.) to steal; to grab.
![]() | London Mag. Feb. 14/1: ‘There’s gemmen near vot can claw a cly in bang-up style—rig’lar knucklers. | |
![]() | Vocab. Criminal Sl. 24: claw [...] To snatch; to appropriate; to annex. | |
![]() | World to Win 271: I ain’t got a single hard feeling only for one ornery pup that I’ll sure make claw for his holster if I ever meet up with him. |
3. (US tramp) to arrest.
![]() | ‘Jargon of the Und.’ in DN V 442: Claw, To arrest. | |
![]() | Amer. Tramp and Und. Sl. 51: CLAW. – To arrest, probably since the hand or ‘claw’ is laid on the person taken into custody. |
In phrases
1. severely beaten or thrashed.
[ | ![]() | Crack upon Crack 4: [Citt claws him off with his cat of Nine-Tails]]. |
![]() | Dict. Canting Crew n.p.: Claw’d-off, lustily lasht. | |
![]() | Penkethman’s Jests 111: As for the Leg, the Cook ought to be claw’d off for not roasting it enough. | |
, , | ![]() | Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue n.p.: Clawed off, severely beaten or whipped; also smartly poxed or clapped. |
![]() | Lex. Balatronicum. | |
![]() | Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue. | |
![]() | Sl. and Its Analogues. |
2. suffering from a venereal disease.
![]() | Dict. Canting Crew n.p.: Clawed off [...] swingingly Poxt. | |
![]() | New Canting Dict. | |
, , , | ![]() | Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. |
, , | ![]() | Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue. |
![]() | Lex. Balatronicum. | |
![]() | Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue. |
an early version of the 20C+ scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.
![]() | (trans.) Proverbes or Adages by Erasmus (1569) 61: Claw me, claw thee. Beare witnes with me, and I will beare witnes with thee. | |
![]() | Proverbs I Ch. xi: Ka me, ka thee, one good tourne askth an other. | |
![]() | Maroccus Extaticus C2: For hee will forbeare as long as shee will beare, and thats ka mee, and ka thee, knaue he, and queane she. | |
![]() | Eastward Ho! II ii: ‘Ka me, ka thee’, runs through court and country. | |
![]() | Ram-Alley IV i: Women please men, men pleasure them againe, Ka me, ka thee, one thing must rub another [...] You know the law has trickes, ka me, ka thee. | |
![]() | Merrie Dialogue Between Band, Cuffe, and Ruffe B3: Claw me, and I’ll claw thee, the proverb goes. | |
![]() | City Wit IV i: Ka me, Ka thee, an old kind of Courtship. | |
![]() | Guardian II i: As my Masters monies come in, I do repay it, Ka me, ka thee. | |
![]() | Compleat and Humorous Account of Remarkable Clubs (1756) 313: Yet their own Works sometimes should be blushingly repeated, that they might have a friendly Opportunity of tickling each other with reciprocal Flattery, and put that Policy in Practice; so much in Vogue among scabby Friends, viz. I’ll scratch you, you do scratch me. | |
![]() | Polite Conversation 85: lady sm.: Well, she and Tom Gosling were banging Compliments backwards and forwards. It look’d like two Asses scrubbing one another. miss.: Ay, claw me, and I’ll claw thee. | |
![]() | Gloss. (1888) II 477: ka me, and i’ll ka thee, prov., or more commonly, in an abbreviated form, ka me, ka thee. [...] swear for me, and I’ll do as much for you; or claw me and I’ll claw you. |
to thrash, to beat severely; thus clawed off
![]() | New Canting Dict. | |
, , , | ![]() | Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. |
, , | ![]() | Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue. |
![]() | Lex. Balatronicum. | |
![]() | Hermit in America on Visit to Phila. 2nd series 25: My attention was soon attracted by the voices of the players. [...] ‘Don’t claw off, Bill’—‘That’s a cooler’—‘Don’t crow yet’. | |
![]() | Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue. | |
![]() | Northampton Mercury 19 Apr. 3/1: Some people clawed him off. |