Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - claw back

1. If someone claws back some of the money or power they had lost, they get some of it back again. (BRIT) They will eventually be able to claw back all or most of the debt... PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron) 2. If a government claws back money, it finds a way of taking money back from people that it gave money to in another way. (BRIT) The Chancellor will try to claw back ?3.5 billion in next year’s Budget. PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), also V n P