The Collaborative International Dictionary
To claw off
Claw \Claw\, v. i.
To scrape, scratch, or dig with a claw, or with the hand as a
claw. ``Clawing [in ash barrels] for bits of coal.''
--W. D.
Howells.
To claw off (Naut.), to turn to windward and beat, to prevent falling on a lee shore.
Usage examples of "to claw off".
He looked out over the tumult of bloody battle where Purple Dragons were slowly advancing to meet each other, hacking down the orcs trapped between them, then up at the-three, by now-ghazneths who were swooping down to claw off a head here, and rake open a face there.