maw
/mɔː/ (bre, ipa) · /mɔː/ (ame, ipa) · /ˈmȯ/ (ame, mw)
maw — noun
- mawsingular
- mawsplural
1. the mouth, throat, or stomach area of a fierce or very hungry animal, especially
the mouth, throat, or stomach area of a fierce or very hungry animal, especially when it is imagined as wide, greedy, or dangerous.
The fox vanished into the reeds with a fish in its maw.
collocation: in + animal's maw
Mud dripped from the crocodile's maw as it slid under the pier.
collocation: from + animal's maw
Christopher saw the cub's maw open as the keeper lifted the bucket.
Anya froze when the wolf lowered its maw over the fallen deer.
文法句型
in + animal's maw
from + animal's maw
用法筆記
Often literary or dramatic rather than neutral. Use it when you want the animal's mouth to sound frightening, greedy, or physically threatening, not when you simply mean an ordinary mouth.
常見錯誤
2. a place or opening that feels like an enormous mouth pulling nearby things into
a place or opening that feels like an enormous mouth pulling nearby things into itself and swallowing them away.
One suitcase disappeared into the maw of the baggage belt.
pattern: into the maw of + machine/place
Liang pulled one hand back before the furnace maw flared again.
Noor watched loose bricks slide toward the sinkhole's maw after the storm.
Crowds streamed into the stadium's maw before kickoff that evening.
文法句型
the maw of + place/object
into + the maw of + place/object
用法筆記
Usually appears in figurative writing for something dark, huge, or dangerous. Distinguish from sense 1: this sense is not an actual animal's mouth, but a place or opening described as if it could swallow things.