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The Collaborative International Dictionary
Clawing

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.

Wiktionary
clawing

n. A scratch with the claws. vb. (present participle of claw English)

Usage examples of "clawing".

Throat on fire with screams and the storm chasing her, catching her, yanking her backward while rocks like fists hit her, bruising her, and she screamed, clawing and fighting.

She was through running, hiding, feeling screams and memories clawing at her throat.

At Lightning Ridge you spend your time clawing and crawling like moles through the earth, sniffing out dark treasures.

Kicking, twisting, clawing, as wild in her fury as she had been responsive in love, she tried to fight free of his grasp.

He needed to know that she would feel the same shattering release that was clawing at him even now.

There was at least another mile to go, another thousand feet to climb on a ghost trail slanting across broken rock, clawing up and up until finally the last ice-shattered ridge was climbed and melted snow flowed west, not east.

When she did, she closed her eyes and sought to control the fear clawing at her.

Scrambling and clawing like cats, the agile mustangs climbed through stony debris.

He closed his eyes, not wanting her to see the hunger clawing through him at her innocent touch.

Following the shock of Hong Kong’s reversion to mainland China, Wen’s increasing frailty must have had the many branches of the Tang family scrambling and clawing to see who would lead the clan through the profitable minefields of the twenty-first century.

Being held like this, handcuffed, locked in…” Her breath fractured as she swallowed the fear that was clawing at her.

She knew only that she was astride him, riding him, and pleasure was a beautiful, savage beast clawing at her until she came apart.

Staring out over the wild Australian land, she saw only cardboard shanties clawing up Rio’s steep sides.

He never went deeper than an inch, and each time he withdrew she felt like clawing him.

Besides, using a channel was a lot easier than clawing his way alone to the most remote and powerful vortex sites - the ones that weren't listed in the flashy four-color pamphlets that sold for ten bucks apiece and weren't worth the paper they were printed on.