"claw back" meaning in English

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "claws back",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "clawing back",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "clawed back",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "clawed back",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "claw back (third-person singular simple present claws back, present participle clawing back, simple past and past participle clawed back)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English phrasal verbs formed with \"back\"",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "I was initially refused a refund, but eventually managed to claw back part of the money.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2019 June 10, Heather Stewart, “Gove reboots Tory leadership bid with attack on Johnson”, in The Guardian:",
          "text": "Michael Gove has tried to claw his way back into the race to be Britain’s next prime minister with a pledge to govern for “overlooked families and undervalued communities” – and a series of personal attacks on frontrunner Boris Johnson.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2024 May 17, Story Hinckley, “Democrats emphasize ‘authenticity’ to take back the House”, in The Christian Science Monitor:",
          "text": "To claw back the Republicans’ current four-seat majority [in the House], Ms. DelBene sees an “incredible opportunity” in the 16 seats now held by Republicans in districts that Mr. Biden won in 2020, as well as seats in the blue states of New York and California.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2024 May 29, “Network News: Severn Valley Railway witnesses bumper crowds for May diesel gala”, in RAIL, number 1010, page 16:",
          "text": "It was rescued by 37263, but the 40-minute delay had been clawed back by the end of the day.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To recover or retake, with great effort, something that was lost, often by a government or official agency."
      ],
      "id": "en-claw_back-en-verb-a~J9KLZ~",
      "links": [
        [
          "recover",
          "recover"
        ],
        [
          "retake",
          "retake"
        ],
        [
          "government",
          "government"
        ],
        [
          "official",
          "official"
        ],
        [
          "agency",
          "agency"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive) To recover or retake, with great effort, something that was lost, often by a government or official agency."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "claw back"
}

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "claws back",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "clawing back",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "clawed back",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "clawed back",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "claw back (third-person singular simple present claws back, present participle clawing back, simple past and past participle clawed back)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English phrasal verbs",
        "English phrasal verbs formed with \"back\"",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples",
        "English transitive verbs",
        "English verbs",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "I was initially refused a refund, but eventually managed to claw back part of the money.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2019 June 10, Heather Stewart, “Gove reboots Tory leadership bid with attack on Johnson”, in The Guardian:",
          "text": "Michael Gove has tried to claw his way back into the race to be Britain’s next prime minister with a pledge to govern for “overlooked families and undervalued communities” – and a series of personal attacks on frontrunner Boris Johnson.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2024 May 17, Story Hinckley, “Democrats emphasize ‘authenticity’ to take back the House”, in The Christian Science Monitor:",
          "text": "To claw back the Republicans’ current four-seat majority [in the House], Ms. DelBene sees an “incredible opportunity” in the 16 seats now held by Republicans in districts that Mr. Biden won in 2020, as well as seats in the blue states of New York and California.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2024 May 29, “Network News: Severn Valley Railway witnesses bumper crowds for May diesel gala”, in RAIL, number 1010, page 16:",
          "text": "It was rescued by 37263, but the 40-minute delay had been clawed back by the end of the day.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To recover or retake, with great effort, something that was lost, often by a government or official agency."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "recover",
          "recover"
        ],
        [
          "retake",
          "retake"
        ],
        [
          "government",
          "government"
        ],
        [
          "official",
          "official"
        ],
        [
          "agency",
          "agency"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive) To recover or retake, with great effort, something that was lost, often by a government or official agency."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "claw back"
}