"declaw" meaning in English

See declaw in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

IPA: /diːˈklɔː/ [UK] Forms: declaws [present, singular, third-person], declawing [participle, present], declawed [participle, past], declawed [past]
Etymology: From de- + claw. Etymology templates: {{prefix|en|de|claw}} de- + claw Head templates: {{en-verb}} declaw (third-person singular simple present declaws, present participle declawing, simple past and past participle declawed)
  1. (transitive, veterinary medicine) To surgically remove the claws of (an animal); to perform onychectomy on. Tags: transitive
    Sense id: en-declaw-en-verb-xo7GG0SZ Categories (other): Veterinary medicine, English entries with incorrect language header, English terms prefixed with de-, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Amputation Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 87 13 Disambiguation of English terms prefixed with de-: 59 41 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 85 15 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 89 11 Disambiguation of Amputation: 100 0 Topics: biology, medicine, natural-sciences, pathology, sciences, veterinary, zoology
  2. (transitive, figuratively) To make harmless. Tags: figuratively, transitive
    Sense id: en-declaw-en-verb-96aPTDlu
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Related terms: declawing

Inflected forms

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "de",
        "3": "claw"
      },
      "expansion": "de- + claw",
      "name": "prefix"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From de- + claw.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "declaws",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "declawing",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "declawed",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "declawed",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "declaw (third-person singular simple present declaws, present participle declawing, simple past and past participle declawed)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "declawing"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Veterinary medicine",
          "orig": "en:Veterinary medicine",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "87 13",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "59 41",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms prefixed with de-",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "85 15",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "89 11",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "100 0",
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Amputation",
          "orig": "en:Amputation",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To surgically remove the claws of (an animal); to perform onychectomy on."
      ],
      "id": "en-declaw-en-verb-xo7GG0SZ",
      "links": [
        [
          "veterinary medicine",
          "veterinary medicine"
        ],
        [
          "remove",
          "remove"
        ],
        [
          "claw",
          "claw"
        ],
        [
          "onychectomy",
          "onychectomy"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive, veterinary medicine) To surgically remove the claws of (an animal); to perform onychectomy on."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "biology",
        "medicine",
        "natural-sciences",
        "pathology",
        "sciences",
        "veterinary",
        "zoology"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              103,
              111
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2016 January 25, “Why Arabs would regret a toothless Chinese dragon”, in The National, retrieved 25 Jan 2016:",
          "text": "If, when the moment arrives, China is unwilling to side with its allies, the Arabs will rapidly find a declawed Chinese dragon unwelcome.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To make harmless."
      ],
      "id": "en-declaw-en-verb-96aPTDlu",
      "links": [
        [
          "harmless",
          "harmless"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive, figuratively) To make harmless."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively",
        "transitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/diːˈklɔː/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "declaw"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English terms prefixed with de-",
    "English verbs",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "en:Amputation"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "de",
        "3": "claw"
      },
      "expansion": "de- + claw",
      "name": "prefix"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From de- + claw.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "declaws",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "declawing",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "declawed",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "declawed",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "declaw (third-person singular simple present declaws, present participle declawing, simple past and past participle declawed)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "declawing"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English transitive verbs",
        "en:Veterinary medicine"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To surgically remove the claws of (an animal); to perform onychectomy on."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "veterinary medicine",
          "veterinary medicine"
        ],
        [
          "remove",
          "remove"
        ],
        [
          "claw",
          "claw"
        ],
        [
          "onychectomy",
          "onychectomy"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive, veterinary medicine) To surgically remove the claws of (an animal); to perform onychectomy on."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "biology",
        "medicine",
        "natural-sciences",
        "pathology",
        "sciences",
        "veterinary",
        "zoology"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English transitive verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              103,
              111
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2016 January 25, “Why Arabs would regret a toothless Chinese dragon”, in The National, retrieved 25 Jan 2016:",
          "text": "If, when the moment arrives, China is unwilling to side with its allies, the Arabs will rapidly find a declawed Chinese dragon unwelcome.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To make harmless."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "harmless",
          "harmless"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive, figuratively) To make harmless."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively",
        "transitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/diːˈklɔː/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "declaw"
}

Download raw JSONL data for declaw meaning in English (2.1kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-12-29 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-12-20 using wiktextract (cdfa371 and 9905b1f). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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