jaw

CEFRB2

/d͡ʒɔː/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    The part of the skull of a vertebrate that frames the mouth and holds the teeth.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    Anything resembling the jaw (sense 1) of an animal in form or action; the mouth or way of entrance.

Examples

  • I was laughing so hard I nearly dislocated my jaw.

  • The punch on the jaw brought me to my knees.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. The part of the face below the mouth.

  2. One of the bones, usually bearing teeth, which form the framework of the mouth.

  3. A notch or opening.

More examples

In context

  • the jaws of a pass; the jaws of darkness; the jaws of death.

  • His jaw dropped in amazement.

  • the jaw of a railway-car pedestal.

Synonyms

Quick test

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Question 1 · Quick check

He felt a sharp pain in his lower blank after the powerful uppercut.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English jawe/jowe (“jaw; sides of the lower face”, 14th century), the further origin of which is disputed. Either: * From Anglo-Norman jowe, from Old French joe (“cheek; jaw”), from Vulgar Latin *ga(v)ota (“cheek”), of uncertain further origin. ** It has been objected that the rhyming of jowe (“jaw”) with clowe (“claw”) in Middle English demonstrates that it did not have the vowel /uː/. This would be a concern if /uː/ were the vowel to expect from a borrowing of the Old French word, which it is not. Compare English paw < Middle English pawe/powe < Anglo-Norman powe < Old French poe. * From Middle English *chowe, from Old English *ċēowe. The main difficulties with this theory are...