claw

\klɔː\

/\klɔː\/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“claw” is uncommon French (frequency #80,048 among 8,609 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#80,048
frequency rank, French
8,609
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Griffe (ongle courbé et pointu d’un animal).

Corpus desk

Index FR-claw · claw · French

claw · rank #80,048 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #80,048
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,609
  • PHOTO-FINISH claquait

Nearest frequency peer: claquait (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rangs de longue queue près de « claw »

Bande clairsemée: les barres inversent le rang pour que le rare se lise plus court

corpus weight

What this shows Vue de longue queue: où « claw » se situe face à des rangs français aussi rares.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for claw
PropertyValue
Headwordclaw
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\klɔː\
Letters4
Frequency rank#80,048
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « claw » en français

De gauche à droite: le peu qui porte la parole quotidienne, puis la longue queue quasi invisible.clawtombe dans cette queue de rareté:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

L'échelle est logarithmique (chaque tic ≈ 10× plus rare). Voisins rares de la même bande: « claquait » (#80,047), « citronnier » (#80,046), « cintrées » (#80,045). Parmi 8,609 lemmes en « C », « claw » est au #80,048. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

claw is uncommon French at frequency #80,048 among 8,609 “C” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed \klɔː\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for claw in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct French form is claw, spelled C-L-A-W.

Definition

  1. 1
    Griffe (ongle courbé et pointu d’un animal).
  2. 2
    Pince (d’un crustacé ou d’un autre arthropode).
  3. 3
    Pied-de-biche.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how claw appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Linton can play the little tyrant well. He’ll undertake to torture any number of cats if their teeth be drawn, and their claws pared.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "claw"?
"claw" is spelled C-L-A-W. The IPA pronunciation is \klɔː\.
What does "claw" mean?
As a noun, "claw" means: Griffe (ongle courbé et pointu d’un animal).
How do you pronounce "claw"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "claw" is \klɔː\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "claw" come from?
"claw" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "claw", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

capu#80,023buda#80,009Croy#80,095cunt#80,101

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list