Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - claw

~1 n 1 a sharp curved nail on the toe of an animal or bird  (The cat dug his claws into my leg.) 2 get your claws into sb a) if a woman gets her claws into a man, she shows that she is determined to marry him b) to say unpleasant things about someone in order to upset them  (Wait till the papers get their claws into him.) 3 usually plural the part of the body of some insects and sea animals that is used for attacking and holding things 4 the curved end of a tool or machine used for pulling nails out of wood and lifting things  (a claw hammer) ~2 v 1 to tear or pull at something using claws + a  (The cat keeps clawing at the rug.) 2 to try very hard to get hold of something  (Mary clawed at her husband's sleeve, trying to stop him. | claw your way up/along/across etc (=move somewhere slowly by holding tightly onto things as you move)) claw sth back phr v 1 to get back something that you had lost, by working very hard  (Through aggressive advertising, the company managed to claw back its share of the market.) 2 BrE if a government claws back money that ordinary people have been allowed to keep or get, it gets it back by increasing taxes