Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. to fondle sexually (esp. when the recipient is unwilling).

1857		The **** Club Poor of N.Y. V iii: Oh, dear papa, do take care of my flounces – you men paw one about as if a dress was put on only to be rumpled.
1902		Bulletin (Sydney) 8 Nov. 12/3: The parsonical fraud depends almost invariably on his physical attractions and on the fatherly pawing of rich woman. He paws by virtue of his office, and when a tall, handsome man has pawed, say, 200 woman, it is indeed cold if he doesn’t come across one who will listen to his very unconvincing tale about Isis and Osiris and Mooc.
1908		H. Green Maison De Shine 251: You wasn’t frettin’ much over me when that minx was pawin’ at your arm!
1920		S. Lewis Main Street (1921) 122: Maud Dyer [...] announced that she ‘simply wasn’t going to stand his always pawing girls when he went and got crazy-jealous if a man just danced with her’.
1934		A. Halper Foundry 46: He [...] had been fond of enticing the stouter bindery girls from the floor below into his private office during noon hour to paw and pinch them.
1942		A. Christie Body in the Library (1959) 22: I hate to see a girl I like who [...] lets a disgusting Central European paw her about.
1956		W. Burroughs letter 8 May in Harris (1993) 317: Last night went to a ghastly queer party where I was pawed and propositioned by a 50-year-old Liberal M.P.
1963		‘Geoffrey Tolhurst’ Flat 4 King’s Cross (1966) 110: ‘I’m in love with you. I don’t want any other man pawing me around’.
1966		H.S. Thompson Hell’s Angels (1967) 114: The cyclists [...] slugged the driver and pawed his terror-stricken wife.
1977		A. Brooke Last Toke 204: Don’t go pawin’ an’ thinkin’ on bringin’ her back fo’ to satisfy you black-assed nature!
1985		N. Pileggi Wiseguy (2001) 127: The other women had to take lots of abuse and a lot of pawing from the guards.
1996		R. Doyle Woman Who Walked Into Doors 166: I had to make sure I wasn’t caught alone in the hall or bathroom or I’d get pawed by a brother.
2000		Observer Escape 23 Apr. 3: Women, most of them prostitutes, paw you as you walk to the bar.

2. to hand over.

1936

N. Page ‘Secret Guns’ in Thrilling Western May 🌐 Jest paw out the money, Mr. Banker.