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What is "to claw away"

The Collaborative International Dictionary
To claw away

Claw \Claw\ (kl[add]), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Clawed (kl[add]d); p. pr. & vb. n. Clawing.] [AS. clawan. See Claw, n.]

  1. To pull, tear, or scratch with, or as with, claws or nails.

  2. To relieve from some uneasy sensation, as by scratching; to tickle; hence, to flatter; to court. [Obs.]

    Rich men they claw, soothe up, and flatter; the poor they contemn and despise.
    --Holland.

  3. To rail at; to scold. [Obs.]

    In the aforesaid preamble, the king fairly claweth the great monasteries, wherein, saith he, religion, thanks be to God, is right well kept and observed; though he claweth them soon after in another acceptation.
    --T. Fuller

    Claw me, claw thee, stand by me and I will stand by you; -- an old proverb.
    --Tyndale.

    To claw away, to scold or revile. ``The jade Fortune is to be clawed away for it, if you should lose it.''
    --L'Estrange.

    To claw (one) on the back, to tickle; to express approbation. (Obs.)
    --Chaucer.

    To claw (one) on the gall, to find fault with; to vex. [Obs.]
    --Chaucer.

Usage examples of "to claw away".

Then he glanced at Gianna and Antonio and deliberately forced himself to imagine them all sprawled on the deck dead, lying in pools of their own blood, as the Kathleen tried to claw away from the frigate's broadsides because he'd miscalculated and the Spaniards had called his bluff.