Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The hoarse raucous sound that is characteristic of a crow or similar bird.
- intransitive verb To utter such a hoarse raucous sound.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To cry like a crow, rook, raven, or jackdaw.
- noun The cry of the crow, rook, raven, or jackdaw.
- To drive: as, to
caw a nail; to caw cattle to market. Often abbreviated toca' .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- intransitive verb To cry like a crow, rook, or raven.
- noun The cry made by the crow, rook, or raven.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun The harsh cry of a
crow . - verb Of a crow, to make its
cry .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb utter a cry, characteristic of crows, rooks, or ravens
- noun the sound made by corvine birds
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The "caw" sounded more crowish, or perhaps raveny, obviously just a shout out to her black bird friends, as a way of compensating for her painful whiteness, blondness and blandness.
Speaking of Robin... Ann Althouse 2009
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And the murder of crows was in the park again, but took off really quiet with only one tiny "caw" as I walked by after dinner.
Spa Day K. A. Laity 2005
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The birds were identified as Fish Crows primarily by their nasal "caw" notes.
BIRDS ETCETERA—Birds, Birding, Birders, and Birdwatching John L. Trapp 2003
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The birds were identified as Fish Crows primarily by their nasal "caw" notes.
Archive 2003-04-01 John L. Trapp 2003
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At this juncture the "caw" of a crow was heard again.
The Meadow-Brook Girls Afloat Janet Aldridge
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He was crying most pitifully, and as they rode off he flew up high in the air and his pitiful "caw" became fainter and fainter till at last they heard it no more.
Myths and Legends of the Sioux Marie L. McLaughlin
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Meantime I practised terrible vocal exercises, chiefly consisting of a raucous "caw" something like a crow's favourite remark, and advocated by my teacher in elocution for no reason that I can now remember; and I stood before the glass for hours at a time making grimaces so as to acquire the "actor's face," till my frightened little sisters implored me to turn back into myself again.
Painted Windows 1918
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He was crying most pitifully, and as they rode off he flew up high in the air and his pitiful "caw" became fainter and fainter till at they heard it no more.
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Meantime I practised terrible vocal exercises, chiefly consisting of a raucous "caw" something like a crow's favourite remark, and advocated by my teacher in elocution for no reason that I can now remember; and
Painted Windows Elia Wilkinson Peattie 1898
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Now and then the sound of a falling leaf caught my ear, and I shall always remember how a crow, flying high overhead towards the mountains, uttered an ominous "caw"; another crow answered, and there was silence again.
The Lake 1892
Prolagus commented on the word caw
goodbye in Maltese.
April 26, 2011
qroqqa commented on the word caw
Actually Maltese ċaw, pronounced basically the same as the Italian ciao, its origin.
April 27, 2011
Prolagus commented on the word caw
Apologies. Would you write it on ċaw?
April 27, 2011