cawed; cawing; caws

intransitive verb

: to utter the harsh raucous natural call of the crow or a similar cry
caw noun

Examples of caw in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Mobbing will sound like cawing or angry chirps, distinct from typical birdsong. Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi, Discover Magazine, 12 Sep. 2024 Mikaal Sulaiman’s straightforward sound design gives us crows cawing, children at play, and kyries between scenes. Sara Holdren, Vulture, 8 Mar. 2024 Additionally, the crows paused before cawing correctly, showing longer reaction times before producing higher totals of vocalizations. Christian Thorsberg, Smithsonian Magazine, 29 May 2024 Using a portable tape player and loudspeaker, Berger plays sounds of wolves howling or ravens cawing. Mark Wheeler, Discover Magazine, 11 Nov. 2019 Besides the bodily functions of Wake, the constant rhythm of waves crashing, seagulls cawing and machines humming on this isolated rock are some of the constants that carry from the dead of night to daybreak. Garrett Mitchell, azcentral, 24 Oct. 2019 The severity of the framing can seem at first like a distortion of reality, much like the wild, teeming soundscape, alive with buzzing insects, cawing birds, giggling children and distant gunshots. Justin Chang, latimes.com, 26 Apr. 2018 After Mike and Tina had quietly whispered their good-byes and slipped away, Rob and Laura, alone again on the mattress, listened to the muted sounds of the hot-tub party and the tropical birds caw-caw-ing softly in the night. Davy Rothbart, GQ, 18 July 2017 Above us, ravens wheeled and dove, circled and played, gliding up the cliff face on the drafts, and cawing down at the silly humans. Erin McKittrick, Alaska Dispatch News, 11 July 2017

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'caw.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

imitative

First Known Use

1589, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of caw was in 1589

Dictionary Entries Near caw

Cite this Entry

“Caw.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/caw. Accessed 4 Nov. 2024.

Kids Definition

caw

verb
: to utter the harsh call of a crow or a similar cry
caw noun

More from Merriam-Webster on caw

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