jaw

jaw

English

Picture dictionary
jaw skull brain eye lip nose mouth chin jaw ear temple neck
Click on labels in the image.

Etymology 1

From Middle English jawe, jowe, geowe, alteration of *chawe (in early Modern English chawe, chaw), from Proto-West Germanic *kauā (compare Middle Dutch kauwe (“fish jaw”), kouwe (“mouth cavity”), dialectal German Käu, Keu (“jaw, donkey jowl”)), gradation-variant of *keuā (compare Old English ċīan (pl.) ‘gills’, West Frisian kiuw (“gill”), Dutch kieuw (“gill”)), noun from Proto-West Germanic *keuwan (compare English chew). More at chew. Alteration probably influenced by Middle English jolle, chaul (“jowl”), which it replaced (see jowl).

Pronunciation

• (UK) enPR: jô, IPA^(key): /d͡ʒɔː/
• (US) enPR: jô, IPA^(key): /d͡ʒɔ/
  • (cot–caught merger), IPA^(key): /d͡ʒɑ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔː

Noun

jaw (plural jaws)

1. One of the bones, usually bearing teeth, which form the framework of the mouth.
2. The part of the face below the mouth.

   His jaw dropped in amazement.

3. (figuratively) Anything resembling the jaw of an animal in form or action; especially plural, the mouth or way of entrance.

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

4. A notch or opening.
5. A notched or forked part, adapted for holding an object in place.

   the jaw of a railway-car pedestal.

6. One of a pair of opposing parts which are movable towards or from each other, for grasping or crushing anything between them.

   the jaws of a vise; the jaws of a stone-crushing machine.

7. (nautical) The inner end of a boom or gaff, hollowed in a half circle so as to move freely on a mast.
8. (slang, dated) Impudent, abusive or worthless talk.
   • 1869, Henry Kingsley, Silcote of Silcotes

     Give me the boy, now, and no more of your jaw. I am going to take the boy home with me.

   • 1955, C. S. Lewis, The Magician's Nephew

     "A lot you care," said Digory fiercely. "But I'm sick of this jaw. What have I got to do?"

9. (slang) Axle guard.
10. (snooker) The curved part of the cushion marking the entry to the pocket.

Derived terms

• jawbone
• jaw-dropping
• jaw-jutting
• jawline
• lantern-jawed
• make someone's jaw drop
• set of one's jaw
• slack-jawed

 

Translations

bone of the jaw

Abkhaz: ацламҳәа (aclamḥʷa) Afrikaans: kaak Albanian: nofull (sq) f Amharic: መንጋጋ (mängaga), አገጭ (ʾägäč̣) Apache: Western Apache: biyedaa’ Arabic: فَكّ‎ (ar) m (fakk) Hijazi Arabic: فَكّ‎ m (fakk) Armenian: ծնոտ (hy) (cnot) Old Armenian: ծնօտ (cnōt) Aromanian: falcã f, ciolj n Ashkun: ālikarīk Asturian: calláxina (ast) f Azerbaijani: çənə (az) Bashkir: яңаҡ (yaŋaq) Belarusian: скі́віца f (skívica), чэ́люсць f (čéljuscʹ) Bengali: চোয়াল (bn) (coyal) Bulgarian: че́люст f (čéljust) Burmese: ပါးချိတ်ရိုး (pa:hkyitrui:), မေး (my) (me:), ပါးသွယ် (my) (pa:swai) Catalan: mandíbula (ca) f, maixella (ca) f Cebuano: apapangig, alungaing (mandible) Chinese: Mandarin: 顎／颚 (zh) (è), 下顎／下颚 (zh) (xià'è), 頜／颌 (zh) (hé) Coptic: ⲟⲩⲟⲛϫϥ f (ouončf) Czech: čelist (cs) f Danish: kæbe (da) c Dutch: kaak (nl) f Egyptian: (ꜥrt f) Ese: sanoa Esperanto: makzelo Estonian: lõug (et), lõualuu (et) Faroese: kjálkabein n (1), høka f (2) Finnish: leukaluu (fi), leuka (fi) French: mâchoire (fr) f, mâchoire inférieure f, mâchoire supérieure f Friulian: massele f, mašele f Galician: caixal m, queixada (gl) f, marmelo (gl) m Georgian: ყბა (q̇ba) German: Kiefer (de) m, Unterkiefer (de) m, Oberkiefer (de) m, Kinnbacke (de) f Greek: σαγόνι (el) n (sagóni) Ancient: σιαγών (siagṓn) Guaraní: tañykã Haitian Creole: machwè Hawaiian: ā Hebrew: לֶסֶת‎ (he) f (léset) Hindi: जबड़ा (hi) m (jabṛā) Hungarian: állkapocs (hu) Icelandic: kjálki (is) m Ido: mashelo (io) Indonesian: rahang (id) Irish: giall m Italian: mascella (it) f, ganascia (it) f, mandibola (it) f (inferiore o superiore) Japanese: 顎 (ja) (あご, ago, がく, gaku) Javanese: uwang Kamkata-vari: āřkali, āakali Kazakh: жақ (kk) (jaq) Khmer: ឆ្អឹងថ្គាម (chʼəng thkiəm), ថ្គាម (km) (thkiəm) Korean: 턱 (ko) (teok) Kyrgyz: жаак (ky) (jaak) Lao: ຄາງ (lo) (khāng), ຄາງກະໄຕ (khāng ka tai), ຫະນຸ (ha nu) Latgalian: žūklis m Latin: maxilla f Latvian: žoklis m Lithuanian: žandikaulis m Macedonian: вилица f (vilica), челуст f (čelust) Malay: rahang Maltese: xedaq Middle English: cheke Mongolian: эрүү (mn) (erüü) Navajo: ayaatsʼiin Norman: mâchouaithe f Norwegian: kjeve (no) Occitan: maissa (oc) f, mandibula (oc) f, cais (oc) Ojibwe: (my jaw) indaamikan Old Javanese: wĕhaṅ Ossetian: ӕфсӕр (æfsær) Ottoman Turkish: چكه‎ (çeŋe), فك‎ (fekk), اڭك‎ (eŋek), زنخدان‎ (zenehdân) Pashto: زامه‎ (ps) f (zãma) Persian: فک‎ (fa) (fak), آرواره‎ (fa) (ârvâre), منه‎ (fa) (mane) Plautdietsch: Kjeew f Polish: żuchwa (pl) f, szczęka (pl) f, czeluść (pl) f (Old Polish) Portuguese: mandíbula (pt) f Prasuni: āgeli Romanian: mandibulă (ro) f, mandibule f pl, falcă (ro), maxilar (ro) Russian: че́люсть (ru) f (čéljustʹ) Sardinian: massidda f, mansidda f, massidha f, mansidha f Scottish Gaelic: giall f Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: вилица f, чељуст f Roman: vilica (sh) f, čeljust (sh) f Sicilian: mascidda (scn) f Sinhalese: please add this translation if you can Slovak: čeľusť f Slovene: čeljust (sl) f Sorbian: Lower Sorbian: crjono n Spanish: quijada (es) f, mandíbula (es) f Swahili: utaya Swedish: käke (sv) c Tagalog: panga Tajik: ҷоғ (joġ) Taos: ȍdénemą Thai: คาง (th) (kaang), ขากรรไกร (th) (kǎa-gan-grai) Tibetan: please add this translation if you can Turkish: çene (tr) Turkmen: eňek, äň Ukrainian: ще́лепа f (ščélepa) Urdu: جبڑا‎ m (jabṛā) Uyghur: جاغ‎ (jagh) Uzbek: jag' (uz) Venetian: maseła f, masela f Vietnamese: hàm (vi), quai hàm (vi), xương hàm Volapük: maxül (vo), donamaxül (vo), löpamaxül (vo) Waigali: alikir West Frisian: kaak (fy), kake (fy), tsjeak (fy) Yakut: сыҥаах (sıŋaax) Zhuang: hwk

bone itself with the teeth and covering

Bashkir: яңаҡ (yaŋaq) Bulgarian: челюст m (čeljust) Finnish: leuka (fi) Georgian: ყბა (q̇ba) Greek: Ancient: γνάθος f (gnáthos) Ojibwe: (my jaw) indaamikan Plautdietsch: Kjeew f Russian: че́люсть (ru) f (čéljustʹ) Scottish Gaelic: giall f Sorbian: Lower Sorbian: škrjono n Thai: กราม (th) (graam)

one of a pair of opposing parts for grasping or crushing anything between them

Bulgarian: челюст m (čeljust) Dutch: bek (nl) Finnish: leuka (fi) French: mors (fr) m, mordache (fr) f Irish: draid f Russian: че́люсть (ru) f (čéljustʹ) Slovak: čeľusť

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Esperanto: (please verify) makzelo German: (please verify) Kinnbacke (de) f (1,2, lower), (please verify) Rachen (de) (2,3), (please verify) Schlund (de) (2,3), (please verify) Backe (de) (7) Korean: (please verify) 턱 (ko) (teok) (1-6) Serbo-Croatian: (please verify) вилица (1,2), (please verify) чељуст (1,2), (please verify) губица (1,2) Telugu: (please verify) దవడ (te) (davaḍa) (1, 2, 3)

See also

• chin

Verb

jaw (third-person singular simple present jaws, present participle jawing, simple past and past participle jawed)

1. (transitive) To assail or abuse by scolding.
   • 1933, Ethel Lina White, The Spiral Staircase (Some Must Watch), Chapter 4,

     He built the Summit, so as to have no neighbours. And Lady Warren couldn't abide It. She was always jawing him about it, and they had one awful quarrel, in his study.

2. (intransitive) To scold; to clamor.
   • 1748, Tobias Smollett, The Adventures of Roderick Random, Chapter 24,

     […] he waked him, which put him in a main high passion, and he swore woundily at the lieutenant, and called him lousy Scotch son of a whore […] , and swab, and lubber, whereby the lieutenant returned the salute, and they jawed together fore and aft a good spell, till at last the captain turned out, and, laying hold of a rattan, came athwart Mr. Bowling's quarter: whereby he told the captain that, if he was not his commander, he would heave him overboard […]

3. (intransitive, informal) To talk; to converse.
   • 1952, C. S. Lewis, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Collins, 1998, Chapter 5,

     Today the beastly boat is level at last and the sun’s out and we have all been jawing about what to do.

4. (snooker, transitive, intransitive) (of a ball) To stick in the jaws of a pocket.

Etymology 2

Uncertain, see Jew's harp for more.

Adjective

jaw (not comparable)

1. (used in certain set phrases like jaw harp, jaw harpist and jaw's-trump)

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North Frisian

Pronoun

jaw

1. your (second personal pronoun plural possessive)

See also

• jam

---

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /jaf/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -af
• Syllabification: jaw

Noun

jaw f

1. genitive plural of jawa

Verb

jaw

1. second-person singular imperative of jawić