maw

noun

ˈmȯ 

1

: the receptacle into which food is taken by swallowing:

a

: stomach

b

: crop

2

a

: the throat, gullet, or jaws especially of a voracious animal

the gaping maw of the tiger

b

: something suggestive of a gaping maw

the dark maw of the cave

Examples of maw in a Sentence

the gaping maw of the tiger

Recent Examples on the Web

Unbearably taut, the 40-second sequence of people shrieking in suffering as they're pulled into Jean Jacket's maw proves that gore-free horror is equally, if not more, scarring. —Keith Staskiewicz, EW.com, 31 Oct. 2024

But according to a study recently published in the journal Reptiles & Amphibians, these gaping maws can expand bigger than experts once believed. —Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 24 Oct. 2024

There was just a big fat gaping maw from which emerged Kim Richards, TMC Faye Resnick, Camille Donatacci Grammer, and Teddi Mellencamp. —Brian Moylan, Vulture, 10 Jan. 2024

Most directors, by peering into a gas chamber or the maw of an oven, mean to remind us, as the actor-director Roberto Benigni once obscenely put it, that Life Is Beautiful. —Gal Beckerman, The Atlantic, 1 Nov. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Old English maga; akin to Old High German mago stomach, Lithuanian makas purse

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

maw

noun

ˈmȯ 

1

: a body part (as a stomach or a crop) that receives swallowed food

2

: the throat, gullet, or jaws especially of a flesh-eating animal