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talon
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
talon
noun
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ As they close in on the prey, they thrust their talons forward and the mighty claws take over.
▪ Easier, easier ... and Creggan, with his talons tentatively stretched out below him, landed on one of its branches.
▪ Grasped tightly in its sharp talons was an ancient key.
▪ He flexed his hand and stroked a talon across his own forearm.
▪ Her talons are thrust forward ready to grab the food.
▪ I twisted on the pole, pushed my talons forward and caught one of them a passing blow.
▪ There, grasping the snail firmly in the talons of one foot, it waits.
▪ Well feather-insulated talons of a snowy owl's feet.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Talon

Talon \Tal"on\, n. [F., heel, spur, LL. talo, fr. L. talus the ankle, heel.]

  1. The claw of a predaceous bird or animal, especially the claw of a bird of prey.
    --Bacon.

  2. (Zo["o]l.) One of certain small prominences on the hind part of the face of an elephant's tooth.

  3. (Arch.) A kind of molding, concave at the bottom and convex at the top; -- usually called an ogee.

    Note: When the concave part is at the top, it is called an inverted talon.

  4. The shoulder of the bolt of a lock on which the key acts to shoot the bolt.
    --Knight.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
talon

c.1400, talounz "claws of a bird or beast," probably originally from Old French talon "heel or hinder part of the foot of a beast, or of a man, or of a shoe; foot-step" (12c.), from Medieval Latin talonem "heel," from Latin talus "ankle" (see talus (n.1)). "The extension to birds of prey, and subsequent stages, are peculiar to English" [OED].

Wiktionary
talon

n. 1 A sharp, hooked claw of a bird of prey or other predatory animal. 2 (context zoology English) One of certain small prominences on the hind part of the face of an elephant's tooth. 3 (context architecture English) A kind of moulding, concave at the bottom and convex at the top; an ogee. (When the concave part is at the top, it is called an ''inverted talon''.) 4 The shoulder of the bolt of a lock on which the key acts to shoot the bolt. 5 In the card game bezique, the remaining stock of undealt cards.

WordNet
talon

n. a sharp hooked claw especially on a bird of prey

Wikipedia
Talon

A talon is the claw of a bird of prey.

Talon may also refer to:

Talon (Marvel Comics)

Talon is a feline Inhuman in the Earth-691 timeline of the fictional Marvel Universe, sorcerer apprentice to Krugarr. Created by Jim Valentino, Talon debuted in Guardians of the Galaxy #18 (Nov. 1991). He is a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy.

Talon (roller coaster)

Talon is a steel inverted roller coaster at Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom in South Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania, United States. It features 4 inversions and close to the ground encounters. Designed by Bolliger & Mabillard, Talon was known to be one of the longest inverted roller coasters in the Northeast when it opened in 2001. Unlike many roller coasters, Talon's track is filled with sand to reduce the noise made by the trains.

Talon (comics)

Talon, in comics, may refer to:

  • Talon (Marvel Comics), a Marvel Comics character and member of the Guardians of the Galaxy of the Earth-691
  • Talon (DC Comics), a DC Comics superhero and Earth-3 equivalent of Robin
  • Talon, an assassin of the Court of Owls in DC Comics

It may also refer to:

  • Black Talon (comics), a number of Marvel Comics characters
TALON (database)

TALON (Threat and Local Observation Notice), was a database maintained by the United States Air Force after the September 11th terrorist attacks. It was authorized for creation in 2002 by Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz, in order to collect and evaluate information about possible threats to U.S. servicemembers and civilian workers in the US and at overseas military installations. The database included lists of anti-war groups and people who have attended anti-war rallies. TALON reports are collected by various US Defense Department agencies including law enforcement, intelligence, counterintelligence and security, and were analyzed by a Pentagon agency, the Counterintelligence Field Activity. CIFA had existed since 2004, and its size and budget are secret.

On August 21, 2007, the US Defense Department announced that it would shut down the database, as the database had been criticized for gathering information on peace activists and other political activists who posed no credible threat, but who had been one topic of this database due to their political views. The department is working on a new system which would replace TALON, but for the time being, information on force protection threats will be handled by the FBI’s Guardian reporting system.

Talon (actor)

Talon (also known as Lex Baldwin, Keith Rivera and Talon Hard) is the stage name of a pornographic film actor. He has done gay pornography but currently does heterosexual pornographic movies. He is the younger brother of pornographic actor T. T. Boy. Both actors are the nephews of a pornographic performer who goes by the stage name Dirty Harry.1 He has appeared in over 1500 films in his career and graced the cover of Playgirl in 1991.

Talon (surname)

Talon may refer to the following people

  • Antoine Omer Talon (1760–1811), French counter-revolutionary
  • Durwin Talon, Canadian illustrator
  • Jean Talon (1626–1694), the first intendant of New France
  • Nicolas Talon (1605–1691), French Jesuit, historian, and ascetical writer
  • Patrice Talon (born 1958), Beninese businessman and politician
  • Pierre Talon (1676–?), French-Canadian explorer
  • Zoé Talon, comtesse du Cayla (1785–1852), an intimate friend of Louis XVIII of France

Usage examples of "talon".

With fearful strokes of its talons it was tearing the basto to shreds.

You, Slooshasill, nothing but Talons servant, do nothing, blat, blat, blat.

With a glorious burst of unearthly song, the martlet seized the string in its talons and, wings whirring, flew straight up into the sky.

The meazel gave Sefris a shove, its filthy, likely disease-bearing talons jabbing her but not quite breaking the skin.

Then the talons darted out almost too quickly to be seen and Heryn Millward sagged and collapsed backward, blood bubbling from the hole of his eye socket, his face a red ruin.

And, in the wishes of Talon RavenCrest SunSoar, who died here, we will reconsecrate it in the memory of the Enchanter MorningStar SunSoar, our mother and widow of Talon RushCloud, who loved our people and this mountain more than most.

High on one broken wall, Pug noticed a half-scraped-off propaganda poster: a schoolage German girl in blonde braids, cowering before a slavering ape in a Red Army uniform, reaching hairy talons for her breasts.

A motley troop of creatures-variously taloned and beaked, chitinous and scutellate, some with claws, others with pinchers-began charging up the hill.

Sab glided off his perch and arrowed down, down through the house, through a rising cloud of plaster dust, down to the great hall, where he landed, skidded inelegantly on his slippy talons and, recovering his balance, came to a standstill beside Latch.

Although the Gryphon did not attack often, they attacked well, reserving their cruelly taloned attentions for obvious commanders.

Huge, gaunt demons, red-skinned on leathery wings spanning nearly twenty feet with three-toed taloned feet and clawed hands.

Feathered wings extended from its back and from the waist down it was feathered and taloned like a hellish bird of prey.

It stepped closer, wings extended behind it, taloned hands held ready to strike.

Gorgrael scurried the distance between himself and Timozel, his dreadful clawed hands and taloned wings extended.

Then a shadow loomed behind Faraday and a taloned hand dropped onto her shoulder, and Faraday turned and, sighing, walked back into the room.