paw
/pɔ/noun, verb
paw is spelled P-A-W: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 3.0 times per million words in written English, the 15,368th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, paw means “The soft foot of a mammal or other animal, generally a quadruped, that has claws or nails; comparable to a human hand or foot” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of paw is paws.
How many letters and syllables are in paw?
| Letters | 3: P-A-W |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 |
| In writing | 3.0 times per million words; the 15,368th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Sounds like | |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is paw?
Paw appears 3.0 times per million words in written English, the 15,368th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce paw?
- UK /pɔː(ɹ)/
- US /pɔ/
- /pɑ/
Paw has one syllable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-paw.ogg, En-us-paw.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with paw
Sounds like: pore, pour (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Also written: pa.
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with paw?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as paw from its last stressed vowel (/ɔ/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: wap.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of paw
- paws plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- pawing participle, present
- pawed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does paw mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The soft foot of a mammal or other animal, generally a quadruped, that has claws or nails; comparable to a human hand or foot.
- 2
slangA hand.
Get your grubby paws off my things!
- 3
Alternative form of pa (“father”).
verb
- 1
Of an animal, to dig through (something, such as a garbage can) with paws.
- 2
Of an animal, to draw the forefoot along the ground; to beat or scrape with the forefoot.
- 3
To touch (someone) in a sexual way.
- 4
To clumsily dig (through something).
- 5
datedTo flatter.
noun
- 1
Abbreviation of plasma arc welding (an arc welding technology).
- 2
Abbreviation of plasma arc weld (a weld created with the PAW process).
- 3
initialism of physics analysis workstation.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Paw in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense soft foot of an animal:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does paw come from?
From Middle English pawe, from Old French poue, poe, from Vulgar Latin *pauta. Further origin unknown, perhaps from Frankish *pōta, from Frankish *pōtōn (“to put, stick, plant”), from Proto-Germanic *putōną, whence also Old English potian (“to push”), pȳtan (“to put out, poke out”). See more at put. Doublet of pote, put, and putt.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).